Kolkata STF says arrested militants wanted to boost sleeper cells in State

During questioning, Abdur Rakib told the detectives that he used to live in the Tiljala South area of Kolkata under the guise of selling old cars and that the jihadist propaganda campaign was going on in the garb of this business. Basically, Abdur Rakib had a special assignment to strengthen the sleeper cells of the militant organization in the state.

Kolkata: Abdur Raqib, who was arrested on charges of being involved with the Al-Qaeda terrorist outfit, was in regular contact with members of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Bangladesh. Mostly these militant organizations kept in touch with each other via the internet.

Besides, Abdur Rakib came here to strengthen several sleeper cells of the Al-Qaeda militant module in various districts, including Kolkata. The detectives of the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police came to know about this after thorough interrogation.

The arrested Abdur Rakib once stayed in Kolkata's Tiljala-Topsia area. During questioning, Abdur Rakib told the detectives that he used to live in the Tiljala South area of Kolkata under the guise of selling old cars and that the jihadist propaganda campaign was going on in the garb of this business. Basically, Abdur Rakib had a special assignment to strengthen the sleeper cells of the militant organization in the state. This particular assignment came from the Al-Qaeda heads.

When Abdur Rakib came to South Bengal with this special assignment, the task of keeping him under cover away from the radar of the intelligence department was the responsibility of another militant who was caught with Rakib on Wednesday. The intelligence wing of the STF had prior information that these two militants were stationed in South Bengal.

Similarly, at around 9:30 pm on Wednesday, the detectives arrested two persons suspected of being associated with the Al-Qaeda militant organisation from the Kharibari area of North 24 Parganas.