Man killed in blast visited Assam often

The arrest of six persons in Barpeta district in lower Assam in connection with the Burdwan blast case has led the police to conclude that the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) has already put in place at least one terror module in Assam.

People from different backgrounds — students, teachers, small-time traders and farmers — have been roped in by the group, police claim. One of the six people arrested on Friday — Shaikhul Islam alias Abdullah (20), a native of of Kahikuchi village in Barpeta — is an important member of the JMB module in Assam, police said.

The Assam Police Saturday said that suspected terrorist Shakil Ahmed, who was killed in the Burdwan blast on October 2, had visited Barpeta district in lower Assam several times pretending to be a garment dealer. Ahmed was in touch with several persons in Kahikuchi. Abdullah was one of them.

Police alleged that Abdullah received “training in jihad” in two madrasas in West Bengal. He had been instructed to be part of a sleeper cell and recruit Muslim youths from Assam, police alleged.