The JMB trail: How Bengaluru became a happy hunting ground for these terrorists

New Delhi, Oct 20: The Karnataka government said that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh had set up at least 4 modules in the state.

The National Investigation Agency which has been probing a case relating to the JMB had made a very crucial arrest recently and learnt that terrorists of the group had a free run in Karnataka.

The NIA had in June arrested an operative of the JMB from Doddaballapur near Bengaluru.

The arrested person was identified as Habibur Rehman, who is a close aide of Jahidul Islam arrested by the NIA last year from Ramanagara near Bengaluru. The sleuths of the NIA are currently questioning Rehman and during the interrogation it came to light that he had travelled to several places across the country.

He told the NIA during interrogation that he had travelled to Bengal, Bengaluru, Kerala and Chennai.

During the interrogation of Islam too the NIA had learnt that he had travelled to several places across the country and the agency suspects that it was to strengthen the activities of the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Rehman according to the NIA landed in Bengaluru in 2015. He then took up a job with a contractor in K R Puram. However following an NIA crackdown which led to arrests in Maharashtra, he moved out of Bengaluru. The case of Islam too is similar. He was residing in Bengaluru and following the crackdown, he moved to Ramanagara, the NIA has learnt.

NIA officials tell OneIndia that these persons had a free run all these years. They would mingle with the local population and take shelter. They were so convincing that their contractor for whom they worked had no idea about their activities. The NIA is now trying to ascertain, where these persons had transported the bombs that they had prepared. It may be recalled that hours after Habibur's arrest, two bombs were found in a drain at Ramanagara.

Rehman was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar. He was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB.

Rehman was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar. He was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB.

Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials tell OneIndia that this is not for the first time that terrorists have come down South to hide. There have been several such instances reported in Kerala and Hyderabad as well. They tend to mix with the migrant population including the Rohingyas and continue to stay on in states such as Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka.