Chicken’s Neck under threat: Cops after terror module bust

Kolkata: Hours after simultaneous raids across three states led to the arrest of eight men, two of them from Murshidabad as part of Operation Praghat — with cops alleging they are part of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) of Bangladesh — Bengal Police claimed that the accused were plotting to create terror sleeper cells in Bengal targeting the Chicken's Neck or the Siliguri corridor.Bengal STF claimed that the two men arrested from Hariharpara in Murshidabad were also involved in the smuggling of arms. In addition, both men were involved in brainwashing the local youths. For this, the accused even opened an educational institute.ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar revealed this information at Bhawani Bhawan on Friday, claiming the accused possessed multiple books and pamphlets written by ABT founder Jasimuddin Rehmani, which talks of attacking Kolkata.The operations kicked off three days ago after Assam STF and Assam Police contacted the state police as part of 'Operation Praghat'. Following this, Abbas Ali (29) and Minarul Sheikh (48) were arrested from Hariharpara in Murshidabad during a joint raid that spanned across three states — Bengal, Assam, and Kerala on the nights of Dec 17-18. Several mobile phones, SIM cards and documents, including books, were seized from them.ABT — also called Ansar-Ul-Islam Bangladesh or Ansar Bangla — is the same group that was behind the murder of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, one of them being Abhijit Roy, in 2021. Minarul, claimed cops, is a pump mechanic whose job was to find "like-minded youths" who can serve the ABT cause. "We had input that Minarul – as well as Abbas – was involved in terror activities even before the upheaval in Bangladesh. But since Aug, he found more youths," claimed a Bengal Police source.Abbas was arrested earlier in a Pocso case and spent two years in jail. After coming in touch with ABT's Md Saad Rabi, a Bangladeshi sleeper cell chief who travelled from Bangladesh and was arrested from Kerala on Thursday, Abbas became more attached to the group. "He was trying to set up an educational institute that can teach and propagate the principles of ABT. We found that he was reading books by Jasimuddin that contain several anti-India components," said ADG Sarkar.Sarkar said they will be travelling to Assam to question the accused from Bengal who are now in Assam Police custody. "While accused Saad was arrested from Kerala and five others were nabbed in Assam, we are concerned about knowing the plans of this ABT India group in Bengal. A 16 GB pen drive recovered from the accused is our prime evidence," said an officer.