Kolkata (BBN)-Working on the leads given by Sajid alias Sheikh Rehmatullah, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is leaving for Bangladesh in search of Shahida Bewa, the widow of a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB) founder member.
The NIA got her name from the call details record (CDR) of the recently arrested Burdwan blast alleged mastermind Sajid, reports The Times of India.
Investigators have also come to know that Sujana Alam alias Sujina Begum's husband Shahnoor Alam alias Doctor is the man who arranged the money bags for the Indian modules.
Going through the CDR, cops came to know that Sajid had called four persons, one of whom was arrested in Bangladesh recently.
What is surprising for the NIA is that Shahida, though not among the top leadership of JMB, managed the funding of the module with the ill-gotten money earned out of drugs-peddling and arms trade.
NIA believes that Shahida — a resident of Rajshahi district — is one of the key conspirators who not only successfully introduced the 'couple-module' theory but is also the main person behind the money supply chain.
Surprisingly enough, the Bangladesh Intelligence has very little information on her.
Sajid, who admitted that he used to get most of the money from her, could not say much about her either.
"We know that she is from Rajshahi and is the widow of a JMB leader, but nothing more.
She is not even in the rank and file of the JMB leadership, but we are sure that she is the brain behind this terror network," said an NIA officer.
Sajid, who crossed over from Bangladesh sometime in 2010, was responsible for training and recruiting people since then.
The 'couple-module' was first introduced in Murshidabad and then it slowly spread to several Bengal districts including Nadia, Burdwan, Birbhum and North 24-Parganas.
"The JMB members crossing over from Bangladesh used to marry a relatively poor woman and train her to become a jihadi. In the last four-five years, they have trained a huge number of couples," the officer said.
On the other hand, Sujana Alam — schoolteacher and Assam JMB module's chief face — has so far refused to divulge much detail, but sleuths have come to know that she underwent training in Bangladesh thrice, in Sharia teaching and handling of weapons. Unlike what was initially believed, it has now emerged from documents seized from the couple's house that it was Sujana who had introduced Alam to the terror module, similar to Abdul Hamid, who was initiated to JMB by his wife Amina Bibi and her father.
At least four women jihadis trained at the Simulia madrassa are at large, Sujana has also claimed.
She was one of the first women from the state to have trained at Simulia madrassa for three months, where she was told that the usage of Arabic words in the state was wrong besides teachings on jihad.
The investigators have also found that Sajid spoke to three other persons — JMB chief coordinator Abdun Nur, Shahjahan Ali and Samsur Rahman.
The Bangladeshi Rapid Action Force arrested Nur from Shaheed Mansur Ali railway station in Sirajganj.
The NIA team will try to fill certain gaps in the case in Bangladesh.
The probe will be scattered across the districts of Rajshahi, Khulna, Satkhira and Naogaon.
The NIA officers will interrogate Nur to try to find out the money trail and the ultimate design of this terror organisation.
BBN/AS-11Nov14-1:20pm (BST)