NIA to set up full-fledged field office in Kolkata

With the Burdwan blast of October 2 lifting the lid off an extensive terror network, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to expedite the process of setting up a fully functional field office in the eastern metropolis. 

The agency, which presently functions from a temporary office, will be able to run all sorts of operations from its new office without having to bring in personnel from Delhi.

The NIA, which was already in the process of setting up an operational base in Kolkata, has accelerated the process so that it can keep an eye on the eastern region, which has emerged as hotbed of anti-national activities.

The decision to speed up things was taken in the wake of the blast on October 2, which revealed that the Bangladesh-based Jamaat-ul-Mijahideen Bangladesh (JuMB) has spread its tentacles deep into Bengal and eastern India.

The central agency’s Special Director General, N R Wasan, visited the city on Tuesday to check on the progress of the probe, which has taken up much of NIA’s time and efforts in the last two months. Wasan, who stayed away from mediapersons, met senior officials involved with the ongoing probe and took stock of the situation. Sources said that he also asked officials to speed up the process of setting up a full-fledged office in the city.

Wasan’s visit comes at a significant time as the NIA is already in touch with Bangladeshi intelligence and security agencies, which led to the arrest of five JuMB operatives from the neighbouring country. 

A team from Dhaka also arrived last week to question the terror module members arrested from different parts of Bengal and are currently in NIA custody. The Bangladeshi team is also reported to have shared intelligence inputs and provided fresh insight into the NIA probe.

According to sources, Wasan enquired about the arrest of five persons from Bangladesh in relation with JuMB’s terror network in India, which include two top leaders of Myanmar’s Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, a Pakistani national and a Saudi Arabia expatriate.