New Delhi, India (BBN)-India has informed Bangladesh about the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh's (JMB) plans to carry out terror strikes in its neighbouring country and the outfit's efforts to recruit new members across India through top operatives, who were also in touch with persons in Nepal and Saudi Arabia.
In a related development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) expanded its probe into the JMB's activities on Tuesday by carrying out searches in Jharkhand following a tipoff that another terror module was active in the state, reports the IndiaToday.
The NIA launched its probe in West Bengal following the October 2 Burdwan blast that killed two JMB operatives.
"Investigators are identifying members of the group who are active in states other than West Bengal. The network was not restricted to one state," said a home ministry official.
"We also have information that top JMB members were in contact with persons in Nepal and Saudi Arabia," the official said.
On Tuesday, the NIA also questioned a constable of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), who allegedly gave shelter to key JMB member Amjad Sheikh while he was on the run. Sheikh was arrested by the NIA on Monday.
Based on initial investigations by the NIA, the home ministry prepared a detailed India reveals JMB's terror plot to Bangla report on the JMB's functioning and its terror plot that has been handed over to Bangladesh through the Ministry of External Affairs.
The interrogation reports of those arrested are part of the report given to Bangladesh.
Though the report detailed the JMB's plans to carry out terror strikes in Bangladesh, there was no mention in it of any move to target specific Bangladeshi political leaders.
There were reports that the JMB was planning an attack on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but sources said the interrogation of arrested JMB cadres has not yielded information on any such plan.
Based on the information unearthed so far by the NIA, India has requested Bangladesh to allow a team of investigators to visit the country to take the probe forward.
The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh is banned in its own country and is said to be an offshoot of the Jamaat-e-Islami.
The group's aim is to replace Bangladesh's democratic set-up with an Islamic state based on Shariah.
Considering the international ramifications of the outfit's activities, the Centre did not waste much time and handed over the probe to the NIA, even though the West Bengal government, led by Mamata Banerjee, was opposed to the move and wanted the state police to investigate the matter.
The seriousness of the threat prompted National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to visit Burdwan recently to get an update from ground zero on efforts being made to crack the terror network.
BBN/SS-12Nov14-2:30pm (BST)