BJP, TMC Trade Barbs After Voter ID, Aadhaar Card Recovered From Bangladeshi Terrorist – News18
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The back-to-back arrests have led to a question mark over the security apparatus of Bengal, with the opposition BJP questioning the “safe sanctuary” to terror modules under chief minister Mamata Banerjee
The sleeper cell was operating in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. (Photo By Special Arrangement)
The arrest of a Bangladeshi national, who had links to an Assam-based terror module, has not only triggered a war of words in West Bengal but also revealed the ease with which terror networks can procure Indian documents.
Md Sad Radi, who was held in Kasargod, was arrested after a joint team of Assam Police and West Bengal Police conducted pan-India raids. Radi is the mastermind of a sleeper cell and owes allegiance to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Probe so far has revealed that Radi entered Kerala in November, posing as a construction worker. During this time, he got forged documents, which included an Aadhaar card and a voter ID. Apart from this, he was also found in possession of a fake passport. The forged documents point to local support that Radi enjoyed and is one of the aspects the police are looking into.
Close on the heels of Radi’s arrest, a member of the prohibited Tehreek-e-Mujahideen in Kashmir was caught after a cooperative effort between the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the West Bengal Special Task Force in Canning, South 24 Parganas.
The back-to-back arrests have led to a question mark over the security apparatus of Bengal, with the opposition BJP questioning the “safe sanctuary” to terror modules under chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
On Radi’s arrest, Sukanata Majumdar, state BJP president, said the Union government was prepared to take full responsibility for the border with Bangladesh on the condition that the necessary land for the construction of border fences is allocated by the state government.
His colleague Amit Malviya, meanwhile, claimed that the detained ABT members possessed voter ID cards from two different constituencies — Kandi and Hariharpara in Murshidabad. “This incident is just the tip of the iceberg. Illegal infiltrators obtaining voting rights have become a significant part of the TMC’s voter base, enabling their continued grip on power,” Malviya posted on X.
Responding to the criticism, Firhad Hakim, mayor of Kolkata and a Trinamool Congress leader, said the arrests were carried out by the West Bengal Police under Banerjee’s leadership, which showed a “complete lack of tolerance for extremists”.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “The presence of members of the terror module is nothing new to Bengal. Terrorist outfits used Bengal as a safe haven during the three decades of the Left Front regime. There were blasts at Lalbazar and attacks at the American consulate in Kolkata. This trend has reversed since TMC came to office.”
He added: “The Union home ministry has said in Parliament that terrorists are active in 14 states,
many of them governed by BJP. If there is any cross-border infiltration, it is the Centre’s job to stop that. The BSF should be alert.”
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