Bangladeshi terrorists living under guise of construction workers charged by NIA

New Delhi, Sep 8: The National Investigation Agency has chargesheeted five Bangladeshi nationals for aiding and harbouring members of a terrorist organisation.

The five were first arrested by the Pune ATS for aiding and harbouring members of a Bangladesh based terrorist organization "Ansarullah Bangla Team" in Pune City.

Subsequently, pursuant to the order of the MHA, investigation of the aforesaid case was transferred to the NIA.

The five persons who were chargesheeted are Mohammed Habibur Rahman Habib, Ripen Hossain, Hannan Anwar Khan, Hassanali Mohd and Azarali Subhanalla Islam. The chargesheet was filed under sections 120B and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, sections 17, 19 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and section 14 of the Foreigners Act, 1946.

The Bangladeshi nationals were earlier arrested by the ATS, Pune. Investigation of the case by the NIA revealed that all the five arrested accused persons were illegally staying in India without valid documents and were working as workers at various construction sites in Pune.

They had fraudulently obtained Indian PAN Cards, Aadhaar Cards, Election Cards and Ration Cards in fictitious names by providing fake/forged documents. They had used the said Aadhar and PAN card for procuring Indian SIM cards, for opening of bank accounts and for seeking employment in India.

Investigation also revealed that in the year 2017 they had provided shelter and money to one Tushar Bishwas, a member of the 'Ansarullah Bangla Team' terrorist outfit against whom a charge sheet under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 has been earlier filed by the NIA.

The said 'Ansarullah Bangla Team' is a terrorist organisation based in Bangladesh and is a front organisation of Al-Qaeda. This terrorist outfit has been banned by Bangladesh Government following which it has renamed itself and has been operating by the name 'Ansar Al Islam.'