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Khalid Mohammed, one of the prime accused in the Burdwan blast case, being produced at the Bankshal court by NIA officials in Kolkata on Nov 20, 2014. (​TOI Photo by Ei Samay)

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NIA, ISD nab Burdwan blast suspect

NEW DELHI: NIA on Wednesday arrested a core member of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in connection with October 2, 2014 Burdwan blast . Mufazzil Haque was arrested from Mukimnagar in Murshidabad (West Bengal) on Tuesday night.According to NIA, Haque used to own the Lalgola madarsa in Mukimnagar which was one of the two important training centres for JMB’s anti-national activities. He was also among the chief trainers and recruiters of outfit.He was such a fundamentalist and so dedicated to the cause of jihad that he styled himself on Osama Bin Laden , said sources.“Sporting a long beard and dressing up like the dreaded slain terrorist, he would keep his women in strict purdah forbidding them from going out of the house and force his family to live by the Sharia. His lifestyle had already earned him the moniker of ‘bin Laden’ in his village even before his name cropped up in Burdwan blast,” said an NIA officer.Sources said Haque was also a close associate of Sheikh Sajid alias Rehmatullah who headed the India chapter of JMB. Sajid has already been arrested by NIA. “They together ran the madarsa. Since Haque was a resident of the Lalgola area, he was instrumental in getting recruits for the outfit. He also arranged for hideouts for those who came to Mukimnagar,” said the officer.Lagola madarsa, set up in 2011, was the most important recruitment and training centres for JMB after the Simulia madarsa of Burdwan. The madras was also used for making country-made pistols and assembling bombs, said sources.Haque’s arrest is 17th in the case with many members of the outfit still absconding.NIA investigations have till now found that the outfit had established its network in different districts of West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand — particularly in Murshidabad, Nadia, Malda, Birbhum and Bardhaman of West Bengal and Barpetta of Assam apart from Sahibganj and Pakur of Jharkhand.The investigations have also revealed that senior members of JMB had established terrorist training centres and bomb making units in Beldanga and Mukimnagar of Murshidabad, Nanur of Birbhum and Khagraghar and Simulia of Burdwan district.