'JMB's Salauddin hiding in India'

The key operative of Jamatul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) Mohammad Salauddin alias Salehin has been hiding in India's West Bengal since past few months, said officials in the National Investigation Agency (NIA), according to the New Indian Express.

The agency also said the most-wanted suspect, who was involved in blasts in Bodh Gaya and Khagragarh in Burdwan, managed to give it a slip on three occasions, the Indian daily says.

“Salauddin also visited Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala to spread JMB’s network among Bangla speaking labourers there. We arrested Jahidul Islam, a key suspect in Khagragarh blast case, in Bengaluru in August, 2018 and after interrogating him, we came to know Salauddin’s activities in south Indian states,” said an NIA official.

The NIA sleuths came to know Salauddin has been hiding in Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad and Nadia villages located along India-Bangladesh border region. “He was at Gitaldaha village in Cooch Behar feigning to be a religious teacher. We raided the village but he left a day before we arrived there. He was staying at a house at Mukimnagar village in Murshidabad district but managed to give us a slip when we raided the place,” said the official.

Last week, the sleuths raided Changrabandha village in Cooch Behar but the suspect was not found. The NIA arrested one of his associates, it adds.