NIA recovers 2 IEDs after ultra’s confession

A day after the arrest of Habibur Rehman Sheikh (28), a terror accused in the Burdwan blast case, the NIA team, based on his confession, recovered two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) hidden under a stormwater drain near the railway track behind the railway station in Tippunagar, Ramanagar, 50 km from here.

Rehman Sheikh is in NIA custody for five days in a transit warrant, under which he will be produced before an NIA court in Kolkata on the fifth day.

Following Rehman’s confession, a team of NIA officials rushed to the spot in ward no. 23 and recovered two suspicious devices concealed in earthern pots kept inside a cardboard box, tied with ropes.

One of the pots contained a device resembling a hand grenade. Members of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of the Bengaluru police were summoned from
Bengaluru.

The devices were then taken to a secure location and inspected. The NIA has sought the help of Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad to diffuse the IEDs.

The BDDS will examine the devices and submit a report to the National Investigation Agency’s Kolkata team, investigating the Burdwan blast.

“There was no danger to life or property at the spot,” said Chethan Singh Rathore, Superintendent of Police, Ramanagara.

Not assembled

Police sources said the IEDs were not assembled or wired. The accused may have hidden the devices under the stormwater drain so that they could use them on the nearby
railway tracks targeting trains or they may have hidden it there to transport it to the city to carry out blasts, sources said.

Soon after the arrest of Rehman and his interrogation, NIA had sounded high alert in Doddaballapur and Bengaluru. They suspect Rehman and his five absconding associates have hidden such devices at different places and searches are being carried out, a senior police official said.

Rehman has also confessed to the NIA about his involvement in several instances of dacoities in Bengaluru city in 2018, to raise funds for the activities of Jammat-Ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a terror-outfit based out of Bangladesh, an NIA official
stated.

DH News Service