Exclusive: BSF claims scores of JMB, Huji militants infiltrating India

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) has claimed that hundreds of militants from the Jamat-Ul-Mujahideen of Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (Huji) have infiltrated India from Bangladesh since 2014. The intelligence wing of the BSF reportedly informed Assam Police that 3,459 JMB and Huji militants had entered India through border areas of Tripura, Assam and West Bengal over the last three years. However, it could not be known how BSF obtained such specific numbers for the militants. Assam’s Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Pallab Bhattacharya said: “From 2014 to 2016, 3,459 JMB and Huji Militants have set up their bases in some Indian states. “In 2014, 800 JMB and Huji militants entered India. Among them, 250 set up their bases in Tripura and West Bengal, while the remaining 300 chose Assam as the location for their base camp.” Furthermore, 659 militants entered India in 2015, with 359 going to Tripura and the remaining 300 entering West Bengal, the ADGP said. Most recently, the number of JMB and Huji infiltrators into India saw a dramatic spike in 2016, with 2120 militants entering the country. Among them, 800 went to Tripura, 600 to Assam and the remaining 720 to West Bengal, according to Pallab Bhattacharya. “These militants belong to various parts of Bangladesh, like Chapai Nababgunj, Comilla, Sylhet, Rangamati, Saatkhira, Maulavibazaar, Thakurgaon and so on,” added the ADGP. The ADGP further said that they were yet to get a list of the militants with names and photographs. Meanwhile, Karnataka Police in collaboration with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday nabbed an IS militant, named Habib Miah, from Tripura by tracking his mobile network continuously. Police alleged that Habib was one of the manufacturers of the bomb from the blast which occurred at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bangalore on December 28, 2005. Habib Miah was produced before the local court and was granted a transit remand to be taken back to Karnataka. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) immediately left for Kolkata. However, they have so far refused to disclose anything in relation to the matter.