Bengaluru: One of the “most wanted” terrorists of the banned terrorist organization - Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) - Manirul Sheikh (35) alias Munir alias Kausar, who is also an accused in the 2013 Bodh Gaya blasts and October 2014 Burdwan blasts was arrested on Monday from Ramanagara by the local police and handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The Karnataka police were allegedly tipped off on Manirul's presence through Intelligence inputs from Telangana. They have allegedly seized some blueprints of top key installations in Karnataka from his possession, said sources on condition of anonymity.
Manirul - an "important JMB cadre" was allegedly living in Ramangara under a fake Indian ID of Munir with his two wives. One of them is also an alleged Bangladeshi and was living with a forged Indian ID. The NIA is investigating the Bodh Gaya and Burdwan terror cases in which JMB and cadres of the two banned home grown terror organizations - Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and the Indian Mujahideen (IM) were also allegedly involved.
According to top official sources, Manirul, originally from Jamnagar in Bangladesh is an absconder in the Bodh Gaya and Burdwan blasts cases and has been on the run since 2014. "He was earlier arrested in Bangladesh but he managed to escape to West Bengal. After the two blasts in Bihar and WB, he had escaped to Kerala and Karnataka. He had come to Ramanagara early this year and was living in a rented house of one Amir Khan," the source said.
" It is not clear whether Khan knew about Manirul's antecedents or had agreed to rent his house to him based on his fake Indian ID. To further camouflage his identity Manirul had picked up a job in a technology institute in Kolar," said the source. He fell in the trap of the Intelligence Bureau, after his calls to his JMB cadres was tracked by the surveillance unit of the IB and they kept a close watch on him. JMB has reportedly opened an India chapter of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen-India (JMI) with an objective of establishing an Islamic State in the country. The JMB was formed in 1998 in Bangladesh by Abdur Rehman - a staunch fundamentalist. The main aim of JMB and now JMI is to build a strong base in Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia districts of WB through its madrassas.
