A senior official of the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) unit on Saturday said that the arrested alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operative had planned to carry out sabotage at the students’ protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and also target Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. PTI quoted IG (Special Task Force) Gaurav Sharma saying that the accused JeM operative, identified as Mohammed Hamim Mondal, was arrested from Purba Bardhaman district on Friday and brought to Kolkata later that night for interrogation. He had planned to sabotage the Jantar Mantar protest wearing a police uniform.
IG (Special Task Force) Gaurav Sharma said, “The chief minister was one of the targets. Hamim had been assigned by Pakistan-based handlers the task of keeping a watch on the CM’s movements. He was asked to gather information on the places the chief minister could remain unguarded.”
STF said that Mondal had also planned to infiltrate the recent students’ protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar by procuring a police uniform and carrying out sabotage. Not just Suvendu but the accused had planned to target “several police officers and politicians”.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that apart from Adhikari, several police officers and political leaders were on the radar of the terror module, IPS Sharma said.
Mondal’s Alleged Girlfriend Plans To Honeytrap Minister’s Son, Abduct Him
These revelations unearthed after the STF on Friday night arrested Arpita Sarkar, alleged to be Mondal’s associate and “girlfriend”, and claimed that the duo had conspired to honey-trap the son of a minister of state in West Bengal to abduct him and extort money from the family.
Involvement of Bhatti Gang
A senior STF officer said the conspiracy was orchestrated at the behest of Pakistan-based handlers linked to the Shahzad Bhatti gang.
“Our investigation has revealed a specific plan to lure the minister’s son into a honey-trap, followed by kidnapping and blackmail. The conspiracy was directed by Pakistan-based handlers. We are probing the precise role of each accused and whether others were involved,” the officer said.
Mondal-Sarkar Plans Were To Extract Sensitive Information
The STF claimed Sarkar and Mondal had planned to cultivate personal relationships with influential persons to extract sensitive information on the instructions of their cross-border handlers.
‘International SIM Cards Recovered’
Bengal STF sleuths also claimed to have recovered international SIM cards issued in the United Kingdom and Mexico from the accused.
“The SIM cards are suspected to have been used for encrypted communication with handlers operating from abroad and to facilitate the strengthening of sleeper cells and the terror network in different parts of the country,” Sharma said.
Mondal Was Radicalised
The probe has further revealed that Mondal was allegedly radicalised through social media before coming into contact with Pakistan-based operatives linked to the Shahzad Bhatti group, he elaborated.
The agency claimed the accused was in contact with several Pakistan-based handlers through encrypted messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Telegram as well as Element X and Session, after initially connecting with them on Instagram.
“During the investigation of his mobile phone and social media chat history, we have found some very serious information. He was in touch with several Pakistan-based handlers through encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram,” Sharma said.
STF on Pak-Based Handlers
Investigators identified the handlers by the aliases ‘Rana’, ‘Uzair’, ‘Abid Jatt 333’ and ‘Hamad’, all of whom are suspected to be linked to the Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti gang, which the STF alleged is involved in radicalisation, narco-terror activities, and recruiting youths for extremist operations.
The probe into the module began after investigators received inputs about the conspiracy to extort money from the minister and abduct his son using a honey-trap, another STF officer said.
“A few days ago, we received information about a plan to extort money from a senior politician from Howrah and abduct his son through a honey-trap. We were told that an organisation was behind the conspiracy. That led us to a social media handle from Sahibganj, which was being operated by one Arpita Sarkar,” he said.
Sarkar’s Social Media Scrutiny Led to Mondal The IG STF further said its investigation into Sarkar’s social media account led officers to Mondal.
According to the IPS officer, the two had been in contact for the last four years after first getting acquainted on Instagram and later meeting in person.
The agency claimed the two were in a relationship and that investigators were examining whether Sarkar had been used to lure potential targets as part of the alleged honey-trap operations.Sharma said further investigation was underway to ascertain the full extent of the alleged terror network, identify other members of the module, and establish its cross-border links.”
The matter is extremely sensitive, and we cannot disclose more,” the IG said, adding that there could be more arrests in connection with the matter.
With inputs from PTI