The Bangladesh police on Sunday claimed to have arrested the wife of Bardhaman blast suspect, Sheikh Rahmatullah alias Sajid. Sajid was earlier arrested on November 8 from Kolkata.
The arrest of Fatema Begum, chief of the women’s wing of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), may help unearth the network of Bangladeshi militants in India. Explosives, bomb-making materials and jihadi books were seized by the police from her.
Three other militant suspects were arrested with her from Dhaka’s Sadarghat area, the police said. JMB operatives trained militants in India and Ms Fatema allegedly confessed that she had trained at least 25 women, including five Bangladeshis, in the Shimulia area of Kolkata.
Ms Fatema was a training coordinator of the JMB and was with her husband during the Oct. 2 blast in Bardhaman, West Bengal. Two suspected JMB members were killed in the explosion. Her name was mentioned by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) during its meetings with Bangladesh agencies.
Joint Police Commissioner Monirul Islam said Ms Fatema allegedly confessed that they were storing explosives to launch attacks as per the directives of their chiefs in Bangladesh and India.
