Bangladeshi radicals find safe haven in Assam, West Bengal

Around 3,500 highly radicalised individuals, some of whom owe allegiance to Harkat-ul-Jihadi Al-Islami, have entered India through West Bengal and Assam.

Bangladesh based radicalised elements and terror sympathisers have turned to West Bengal and Assam as their safe haven to escape the anti-terror operations that have been launched by Sheikh Hasina using the country’s elite anti-terror force, Rapid Action Battalion or RAB.

The terrorist groups in Bangladesh have come under increasing pressure from the officials after the siege in Dhaka’s Holey Artisan cafe that took place in July last year and left 20 dead.

Recently, in an exchange of dialogue between Indian security agencies and Bangla- deshi counterparts, the latter told the Indian officials that around 3,500 highly radicalised individuals, some of whom owe allegiance to Harkat-ul-Jihadi Al-Islami, whose chief, Mufti Abdul Hannan, was sentenced to death by the country’s highest court last month and Jamaatul-Mujahideen Bangladesh ( JMB), have entered India through West Bengal and Assam.

However, New Delhi based senior sources with Intelligence agencies said that the number could be higher than 3,500. “It has become very easy for Bangladeshi Muslims to enter India and get a legal document in West Bengal. While the situation is changing in Assam where the security has become more stringent and substantial effort is being made by the government to stop infiltration, it is West Bengal that is worrying us. Malda, 24 Parganas (North and South), Swarupnagar have gone out of control; there is little we can do there right now. Certain corrupt elements in the BSF, in connivance with the Border Guards Bangladesh have also been helping these infiltrators for a long time now. The number of such infiltrators is likely to be much more than 3,500,” a senior intelligence official said.

The official stated that the approach of the West Bengal government towards facilitating infiltration has led to a very alarming situation in the state, where illegal Muslim migrants are now fighting for resources with the genuine citizens. “The tension that is prevailing in certain areas of the state is just like in Assam, where the Bodos are fighting the Bangladeshi Muslims. Due to the approval of the political party in power, officials too have turned a blind eye towards infiltration and West Bengal has in the last two-three years become the main point for bringing in fake currency into India, which then is sent to other parts of the country, including Kashmir,” the official said.

These radical elements, as per the official sources, are either lying low in West Bengal or have moved to other states like UP and Kerala.