Burdwan blasts: There is more to the 'institution' of bombs

Burdwan, Oct 21: The Burdwan blast probe does end in West Bengal alone. It has its ramifications across the country and what has been most startling is that there has been a trend that has been noticed where in illegal finances are pumped in to purchase government land and set up Islamic education institutions illegally. Burdhwan is just a pre cursor to what has been going on an officer with the National Investigating Agency informed.

Dots that lead to Andhra Pradesh

While joining the dots we have found that the same trail of money which reached the Burdwan accused was also found in Andhra Pradesh where government land near Tirumala was purchased to set up an institution. In fact the NIA would also seek details from the Enforcement Directorate on the money trail as the ED had found a transaction of Rs 80 lakh which could not be ascertained by the accused.

Illegal Madrasas have come majorly under the scanner, following the Burdwan probe. We have found that this racket is not restricted to West Bengal alone. In the coming days we will probe such transactions in other states including Bihar and Andhra Pradesh as well, an NIA officer informed.

Local authorities involved

The modus operandi of purchasing government land and setting up training centres and illegal madrasas has come to light in a bid way during the Burdwan blast probe. It has been found nearly 30 acres of land in Murshidabad and the Malda areas were taken over illegally by members of the Jamaat-ul-Bangladesh to set up training centres and Madrasas.

This was a tactic that was used by them with and they connived with the local authorities to do so. Government land was available freely and they realized that it would not be disputed. Moreover by setting up a Madrasa on this land it would only make matters better for them, considering this is a religious school and none would try and dislodge it as it could lead to a communal flare up.

The NIA has found several members of the Gram Panchayat in Murshidabad to be behind this incident. They have helped the accused persons with papers and this has been going on since the late 2010.

The terror blueprint

It was a well orchestrated plan on their part. They first planned the operation in 2010. Second they got in touch with local leaders with the help of the Students Islamic Movement of India. Once in touch with the local establishment, they went on a spree to identify land and also houses to set up their operations. The funds then were sent in directly to Bangladesh from Saudi Arabia through members preaching the Wahabi culture.

It was then moved into West Bengal and other parts of the country. A man who was the primary architect behind identifying land and setting up illegal madrasas was Shakil Ahmed who died in the blast. The finances were handled by Kausar who is still on the run. These members also got in the Islamic Chattr Shibir to help with the movement of funds around the country since this outfit has a great deal of support in the form of the Al-Ummah in Tamil Nadu, NIA officers also informed.

Women 'power'

The NIA says that they were setting up bomb factories across Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia since the past three years and had plans of preparing over 500 bombs both sophisticated and crude. Ironically they had 25 women who were part of this operation who acted as a major cover for the operation.

A lot of the public dealings were executed by the women as they do not raise any suspicion. Out of the 25 women who were appointed 8 of them were specifically being trained to execute a Fidayeen attack in Bangladesh, the NIA has also found.

As per a report of the Home Ministry there are 4500 illegal Madrasas in West Bengal alone. The report prepared on the basis of the information by the Intelligence Bureau has raised alarm bells since it has been found that in most cases these illegal madrasas which very often have found to be running on government land obtained illegally have been centres for subversive activities, the Home Ministry report states.

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