Burdwan blast case: NIA makes fresh seizures at JMB hideout

“Two cuboid shaped batteries wrapped with plastic tape and electrical wire, one capacitor, three switches, one micro lithium cell, a plastic transparent box containing black colour chemical wrapped in a white paper, hand gloves, identity cards, rent agreement of one of the hideouts and handwritten letters in Bengali language” were found, the NIA said. “A digital camera and silver articles looted during dacoities in Bengaluru in 2018 have also been seized by NIA on the basis of information provided by Jahidul Islam,” the agency said.

Kausar also pointed out places along the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border where he along with his associate Habibur Rehman (28) and two others “test-fired three rocket shells prepared using a crude device during June-October 2017” and a spot where they hid the remnants, the NIA said.

In July, the NIA had raided the group’s hideout in north Bengaluru and found five improvised hand grenades, three fabricated grenade caps, three IED circuits, one timer device, two rocket bends, a 9 mm pistol with live rounds, an air gun and other materials. According to the NIA, Kausar was a visitor to the house in Burdwan where the blast occurred in October 2014 and is a “senior trainer of terrorist camps organised by the JMB in India”. He was tracked down to Karnataka last year after he established contact with an associate in Kerala.