Most wanted terror suspect was mastermind of Bodh Gaya plot

The alleged mastermind of the Bodh Gaya blast case this January and one of India’s most-wanted terror suspects, Mohammed Jahidul Islam alias Qausar, has been arrested near Bengaluru after an almost fouryear-long chase, officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Tuesday.

Islam, part of the terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which operates in the border districts of India and Bangladesh, was on the run from security forces in Bangladesh as well. NIA officials said he has been sentenced to death as well to a cumulative prison term of 95 years for various acts of terror in the neighbouring country, including the serial blasts in 63 districts that killed in 2005.

His name first came on the NIA radar after an accidental blast in October 2014 in West Bengal’s Burdwan town led to detection of a huge network of JMB operatives in the region.

“We were told by informers that Qausar visits a Sunday market in the area. The exact location of his hideout was not known. The NIA team kept waiting for him there. He was spotted in the Sunday market but then disappeared. The NIA officers kept watch. A few hours later, he was spotted again and detained,” said an NIA official involved in the operation who asked not to be named.

“Officials wanted to ensure that they had the right man. He was taken to his hideout, where we found traces of explosives and electronic devices. He was formally arrested and produced before the designated court in Bengaluru for a transit remand to take him to Patna. He is an expert bomb maker,” the official added.

NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal said in a formal statement issues by the agency that Islam, 38, was arrested by the NIA team on Monday from the Ramanagara area. “He was wanted by NIA in connection with the October 2014 accidental blast in Burdwan of West Bengal and for the Bodh Gaya blast of Janaury this year,” the statement added.

Besides Islam, the agency arrested another accused, Adil Sheikh of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, in connection with its probe into the Bodh Gaya case. With his arrest, the NIA so far has arrested seven accused, including three people who planted the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Mahabodhi temple on January 19, when the Dalai Lama was visiting the shrine. Investigators said the IEDs had been planted as revenge for alleged atrocities committed against Rohingyas in Myanmar.

The Mahabodhi temple is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage for Buddhists. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. The incident in January was not the first time that militants targeted the temple. In July 2013, more than a dozen IEDs were planted in and around the Mahabodhi temple — 10 went off, causing injuries to five people. “In the interrogation of Qausar and other accused, it was revealed that the a group of JMB operatives was formed with the specific target to attack Myanmar nationals in Bodh Gaya as a revenge act for alleged atrocities committed on Rohingya Muslims there. The IEDs were fabricated at a hideout in Jehanabad, where Qausar was present days before the operation,” said the NIA official.

JAHIDUL ISLAM’S NAME FIRST CAME ON THE NIA RADAR AFTER AN ACCIDENTAL BLAST IN 2014 IN WEST BENGAL’S BURDWAN TOWN