West Bengal Police arrests three Ansarullah Bangla Team terrorists having Al Qaeda links in Kolkata

The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police on Tuesday arrested three suspected terrorists having connections with Al Qaeda from Kolkata railway station.

Deputy Commissioner of STF Murli Dhar Sharma confirmed the arrest and said, “Two of the arrested are Bangladeshi nationals. The arrested are members of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a banned terrorist organisation of Bangladesh.”

He added that the arrests were made on the inputs provided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The trio arrested have been identified as Samsad Mia, Riyazul and Manotosh Dey. Mia and Riyazul are from Bangladesh, while Dey is an Indian citizen and resident of north 24 Pargana.

Sharma also added that the three arrested might have links with Al Qaeda, an internationally banned terrorist group.  

He added that the two foreign nationals were living at the outskirts of Kolkata and in districts sharing border with Bangladesh. One of the Bangladeshi nationals had managed to procure a Aadhaar card on his name.

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“A probe has been initiated to find out how they managed to procure Aadhar card without having valid identity documents,” added Sharma.

The STF officer further informed the media that the three were in Kolkata to procure arms, ammunition and explosives. “Several documents have been recovered from them and including Al Qaeda leaflets, contacts and visiting cards of chemical shops,” he added.

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The STF additional commissioner also said, “The booklets explained how to make bombs. We are examining the booklet more carefully.”