More raids on suspected ISI ring across West Bengal

 As part of the ongoing crackdown on suspected ISI agents across Bengal, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police raided two houses in Howrah and picked up yet another person on Monday.

The security agencies have apprehended around 10 people from different parts of Kolkata since November 10, all believed to be part of the same spy ring.

The STF conducted raids at Tikiapara in Howrah to apprehend Muhammad Iliyas Ansari after receiving inputs that he is the elder brother of Farid Khan, an Indian Army Havildar the Delhi Police arrested from Siliguri on Sunday.

Both Farid and Iliyas are believed to be part of the same network that was busted after the arrest of Muhammad Ezaz on November 28 from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. Raids were also conducted at some places in Murshidabad on Sunday night.

Although officials acknowledged holding one person for interrogation during the Howrah raid, they refused to disclose the name of detainee, who is believed to be Iliyas’ younger brother, Farooq.

“During interrogation Farid admitted that Iliyas was the brain behind the ring, providing fake IDs to ISI agents,” an official said. STF raided Iliyas’ house but failed to apprehend him.

“We’ve been told that Iliyas moved to Germany with his family sometime in July. Sources admitted that when searching for his passport details, no such name surfaced. “It is likely he was travelling on a forged passport,” an official said.

Sources pointed out that while they are yet to find terror links to any of the others arrested since November, Iliyas could be part of a terror outfit. “We’ve apprised the Central agencies of this development,” the official said. Sources said that based on available inputs it seems Iliyas was adept at forging birth certificates, which would mean anyone can legally apply for any identity document.

Iliyas’ involvement was further corroborated by Muhammad Jahangir and Sheikh Badal. Jahangir was arrested from Kolkata’s port area on November 29 and Badal from central Kolkata on December 2. Jahangir provided forged passport and identity documents to Ezaz, when he came to stay in Kolkata in 2013. Badal, a passport tout, admitted supplying fake passports to a number of people.