West Bengal (Islamist/Other Conflicts): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2017

A top operative of the Bangladesh-based terrorist outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Mohammad Mosiuddin alias Musa has revealed that Islamic State (IS) is planning to carry out terror attacks in the eastern part of the country, Zee News reports on January 3. Mosiuddin claimed that the IS want to establish an Islamic caliphate in India.The Security Forces and the intelligence agencies are now verifying the possibility of an IS attack from the east following the interrogation of Musa. During his interrogation, Musa has made revelations that terror groups now aim at targeting foreigners at Kolkata's Mother House and lone wolf attacks on foreign tourists in Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir).The group aims to replicate in South Asia what the IS has done in the middle-east, sources said. Mosiuddin is believed to be closely linked to the mastermind of the Dhaka Bakery terror attack and this lends credibility to reports about the possibility of IS opening a new front in the East. The JMB further plans to publicise the activities of the IS in India and recruit for the group.Another aim of the group is to help spread Salafist Islam in states like Bihar and West Bengal.  Read less...

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Border Security Force (BSF) on January 16, seized around 500 gram of heroine from a border outpost near Lalgola in Murshidabad District, reports The Times of India. The seized drug, which was to be sent to Bangladesh, has a market price of INR 1.5 core. "So far it seems that the consignment was sourced from some clandestine laboratories in the area. We have already brought the Lalgola and Plassey area under our surveillance," said Dilip Srivastav, Regional Director (east) of NCB. The agency has seized more than 300 gram of heroine from Siliguri earlier this year. "It seems that the consignment was procured from Siliguri and was brought for the local consumption," said Srivastav. According to NCB sources, after a crackdown at Malda District, clandestine laboratories have started mushrooming in Murshidabad. The areas across Plassey and Lalgola in the district are under the radar of the agency now. Read less...

Ten years after being caught while trying to sneak into India from Bangladesh for a planned terrorist attack on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir, three LashkareTaiba (LeT) militants – two Pakistani nationals and one Jammu and Kashmir resident were awarded the noose by Barasat (West Bengal) sub divisional court on January 21, reports New Indian Express. The Pakistan nationals Abdullah and Mohammad Younus residents of Karachi and Haripur respectively and Muzaffar Ahmed Rather of Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir were found guilty under Section 121 (waging war against the Government of India) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were awarded death sentence by Judge Vinay Kumar Pathak of Fast Track Court1 of Barasat sub divisional court. The accused have also been found guilty under Sections 121 A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by Section 121), 122 (collecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India) and 120 B (Party to a criminal conspiracy to commit a crime punishable by death) of IPC. Read less...

Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, including two Pakistani nationals arrested by Border Security Force (BSF) in 2007 from the India-Bangladesh Border at Petrapole, were on January 21 sentenced to death by a court in Bongaon in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas District in a case of waging war against the Government, reports The Times of India. Pakistani militants Mohammed Younus and Abdullah and an Indian, Muzaffar Ahmed Rathod, were sentenced to death by judge Binay Kumar Pathak of Bongaon fast track court-1. Abdullah and Younus are residents of Pakistan's Karachi and Haripur respectively, while Rathod hailed from Anantnag District of Jammu and Kashmir. Read less...

West Bengal Police arrested a man, identified as Zia-ul-Haq in West Bengal’s Malda District along with a Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) of INR 2,000 on January 24, reports india.com. According to a report by India TV, three to four fake notes have been seized in the area within four days and they suspect there might be more already in circulation. According to BSF IG (Inspector General), PSR Anjaneyulu, the fake notes have been transported to India via Bangladesh and Pakistan has made Bangladesh its base to supply such counterfeit. The seized notes, he claimed has features similar to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) notes. According to the report, currency experts believe that the ink and paper used in the fake is similar to that of RBI as well. Read less...

A person wanted in a case of trafficking of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) has been arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials from Malda area in Malda District on January 25, reports DNA. Mohammed Ashraful, was wanted in a case registered initially by Kerala Police pertaining to the seizure of high quality FICN having face value of INR 67,000 from migrant labourers hailing from West Bengal. Ashraful was arrested on January 24, an NIA official said on January 26. In this case, six accused were arrested initially and FICN was recovered from each of them, while three others including Ashraful, had managed to escape. Read less...

The Border Security Force (BSF) is overhauling its deployments in Malda District of West Bengal, ill-reputed as the national hub for Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) notes and illegal narcotics smuggling, Hindustan Times reports on January 30. The overhaul move has been initiated following a caution sent by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) to the West Bengal home department that Indo- Bangladesh border sector in Malda District of West Bengal, is increasingly becoming a corridor for movement of cross- border terrorists.According to the BSF Commandant, deputed in the Malda sector, A K Hotker, the border guard force is involving the local residents in the Indo-Bangladesh border villages in the Malda sector in getting information about outsiders frequenting these bordering villages. “Without the participation of the villagers we cannot really perform our duties of nabbing the cross- border terrorists using this bordering sector as the corridor,” he said.According to sources from the border guard agency of the Union government, four major steps are being taken as a part of the agency’s overhauling exercise in the Malda sector. The first is increasing the deployment of the BSF battalions in the Malda sector from the existing four to six. The second is deputing an experienced officer in the rank of deputy commandant in charge of each of the 58 border outposts (BOPs) in the Malda sector replacing the earlier arrangement of an Inspector in charge of each BOP. The third major overhaul, is that every cordon & search and ambush operation should be led by an officer minimum to the rank of assistant commandant. The fourth and the final part of the overhaul is deputing a specialized team of BSF officers and staff with specialization in marine combat to guard the 20 kilometer long riverine border in the Malda sector. Read less...