10 JMB militants may have entered India, says Bangladesh; border states on high alert

Security forces in West Bengal, Assam and Meghalaya have been put on high alert after the Bangladesh government sent a list of 10 Jamaat-Ul-Mujahideen (JMB) Bangladesh cadres to Government of India along with their images, who are suspected to have sneaked into the Indian territory.

“A message has been circulated in the offices of superintendents of police about the infiltration of the JMB militants,” said a high-level source in Assam police on condition of anonymity.

“The message was sent two days ago which also had the names of the 10 possible JMB infiltrators,” he added.

Bangladeshi security agencies also suspect the involvement of the 10 youths in the Dhaka attacks that left more than 20 dead in an upmarket café.

Sources said that the infiltrators are suspected to have taken shelter in North Bengal where police have launched a massive search operation.

The revelation comes after Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh Prime Minister ordered a probe into the number of students absent from educational institutions for more than 10 days in the country.

As per reports, most of the suspected JMB militants among the above 10 are students who have been absent from school for more than a year. Bangladesh government suspects that they took arms training during this period.

The Bangladesh government has also sent the names, addresses and images of the 10 JMB militants to the Indian government. Sources in the Indian intelligence have identified them as Asharaf Mohammad Islam (Dhaka), ATM Tazuddin (Lakhipur), Ibrahim Hassan Khan (Dhaka), Zubaghedur Rahim (Dhaka), Junoon Sikdar, Mohammad Bashar Zaman (Dhaka), Mohammad Saifullah Ozaki (Sylhet), Nazibullah Ansari (Sapainbabganj), Tamim Ahmed Choudhury (Sylhet), Baddar Junayak Khan (Sylhet).

As per sources in Assam police, the militants have sneaked through the porous Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya. “A significant part of the Indo-Bangla border in Meghalaya is not fenced,” said Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of All Assam Students Union.

The fenceless Indo-Bangla border, even after the much-hyped land swap deal with the neighbouring country, is a threat not only to the culture and heritage of the North Eastern region, but also to the security and sovereignty of the country.

A regional newspaper in Assam has reported that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants continue to take shelter in various districts of Assam, taking advantage of the state’s demographic similarity with that of Bangladesh. Assam police busted a JMB camp in Chirang district two months back, which was used for training purpose of local youths.

The porous Indo-Bangla border is also seen as a way out to build links with ‘Jihadi’ groups based in Bangladesh.

As per police sources, Shahnur Alam, a JMB operative, one of the accused of the Burdwan blast was picked up from Indo-Bangla border by the militant group and moved to Bangladesh to indoctrinate him. Another accused of the Burdwan blast, Sahidul Islam, a resident of Assam, cannot be traced after the blast. He is suspected to have taken shelter in Bangladesh.