BARDHAMAN/KOLKATA: An orange Nano car found near the

Simulia madrassa

— that allegedly served as a

terror training centre

— sprung a surprise on the

NIA team investigating the Bardhaman blast

on Monday. Officers wonder how state police had missed the car, with an Indian Army sticker on the front windshield, for so long although it was parked barely 100 metres from the mud-hut madrassa.

READ ALSO:

Dhaka to mount pressure on Mamata over ‘Jamaat links’

Hasem Mollah, one of the three prime accused in the

Bardhaman blast

case

The car that may have been used by terrorists

What’s even mysterious is the reason why police did not — or could not — take any action. Police say the first clue they got about the Simulia madrassa was on October 6, four days after the Khagragarh blast. Senior police officers said that they immediately informed Nabanna (the Bengal secretariat) about the car and sought permission to raid the madrassa, but they did not get the go-ahead from the home department. Police were apparently told to wait because the case was sensitive and the information reached cops on the day of a religious festival.Nabanna officials asked police to stay away from the madrassa on the ground that police action might trigger tension in the area, say sources. Bardhaman Police were asked to simply keep a watch from outside, though the suspected terrorists had locked up and fled. By the time NIA was finally handed the case and arrived at the madrassa, crucial days had passed and no one can be sure if the terror suspects used the time to remove evidence from the hut.NIA-DG Sharad Kumar has briefed Union home minister Rajnath Singh about the development.When NIA sleuths entered the madrassa on Monday, they found chilling evidence that it was used for arms and IED training. Air gun cartridges, glass bottles tied with chords for use as targets, and pellets embedded in the mud walls gave proof of target practice. There were bundles of optical fibre, electrical equipment and a lot of chemicals found in three rooms. NIA also seized a Sigma table clock, whose circuit could be used as a timer in an IED, say sources.Pamphlets and literature in Arabic and Urdu and bows and arrows were found along with tiffin boxes and 14 large tin trunks. There was also a punching bag filled with sand, like the ones used by boxers. Investigators seized a phone book believed to belong to Yousuf Sheikh, the terror module’s mentor. It has the contact numbers of women who took training in the Simulia madrassa, say sources.Villagers say the Nano was used by Yousuf and Borhan Sheikh, both of whom are absconding. NIA officers have come to know that alleged hit squad members Amina Bibi and Razia Bibi often traveled to Simulia along with other women for training.NIA found that the Nano’s registration number — WB 58F-6943 — actually belongs to a motorbike owned by Kabirul Islam of Lalgola in Murshidabad. He is being interrogated by NIA. Investigators were surprised to know that the number was registered in 2006 whereas the Nano did not roll out of the Sanand factory till 2008. A probe of the chassis and engine numbers showed that it changed hands in 2012. The new owner hails from Beldanga in Murshidabad. An NIA team has gone to Murshidabad to trace the owner.The terror module used the Army sticker — an Artillery Regiment VIP pass and ‘Army’ on the windshield in red letters — knowing that the Panagarh military base was nearby and police would be reluctant to check such a car, said a police officer.Mongolkote OC Sanjoy Kundu went to the madrassa with a local imam and a few students to translate the books and pamphlets. Investigators plan to drain two nearby ponds to see if the terrorists had dumped anything there as they fled. NIA is also looking for a homoeopath, Farooq, of nearby Pulsona village who used to treat the injured terrorists.