Indian team due today

A four-member team of India's National Investigation Agency arrives in Dhaka today to share information about militancy with Bangladesh and find out a mechanism to jointly fight against the menace.

The team which will be headed by NIA chief Sharad Kumar will also have extensive discussions with officials of home ministry, law enforcing and intelligence agencies during its visit. 

The focus of the discussions would be on the activities of banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh in the two countries, sources said.

JMB is the alleged mastermind behind the October 2 Burdwan blast.

“The NIA team will sit with the inspector general of police and chiefs of different intelligence agencies tomorrow [Monday],” state minister for home Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters at his office yesterday.

The NIA investigators will also meet officials of Criminal Investigation Department, Detective Branch of police and Rapid Action Battalion at police headquarters on the next day.

The NIA is making the visit after it arrested JMB Burdwan module “chief” Sajid Rahmatullah, slated to be a Bangladeshi national.

The agency sees the arrest as a major breakthrough in the blast probe. 

Apart from seeking details about JMB's network in Bangladesh, the agency will seek information on the interrogation of Monaem, Sajid's alleged brother, as well as of two other arrested alleged JMB members.

Monaem has been detained from Narayanganj and the other two from Segunbagicha in the capital.

The NIA team will also share with Bangladesh details of its probe in the case so that Bangladesh can take preventive steps and necessary actions to counter the threat posed by JMB.

JMB has reportedly been able to spread its networks in India's West Bengal. Many fugitives JMB leaders are allegedly involved with the blast that killed two alleged members of the banned outfit in Burdwan.