A Special Task Force (STF) team from Kolkata managed to net in Mohammad Aftab Khan alias Omar Farooq alias Mahi from the Indo-Nepal border.
Based on specific source inputs the STF team nabbed Mahi who is an Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT - a Bangladeshi front of the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent -AQIS) operative from Panitanki on Tuesday while trying to sneak into Nepal.
Panitanki is a hamlet on the Indian side bordering Kakarbita on the Nepal side around 32 km from Siliguri in North Bengal.
Mahi will be taken to Kolkata and produced at the Bankshall Court in Kolkata on Wednesday. In court, the STF will be praying for Mahi's custody.
Mahi is believed to be an explosive expert and occupies an important position in the operations' wing of the ABT. The outfit connected with the assault and murder of secular and atheist bloggers has been banned in Bangladesh.
Incidentally the arrest of Samsad Mia alias Tanvir alias Saiful alias Tushar Biswas (26 years) a resident of Katashola, Moinpur, Sunamgunj, Shylet, Bangladesh; Rizaul Islam alias Riyaz alias Sumon (25 years) of Kasimnagar, Kapilmoni Panchayat, Khulna, Bangladesh and Monotosh Dey alias Mona Da (46 years) of Kholapota, Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal on November 21 from the Kolkata Railway Station has opened up a Pandora's box.
While Samsad Mia (Tanvir) and Rizaul Islam are allegedly Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) operatives, Monotesh Dey is an arms dealer.
On November 24, Mohammad Sahadat Hossain was arrested by the STF from in front of Jagat Talkies (cinema hall) located on Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Sealdah, Kolkata.
A manhunt has also been launched for Sajol Ahmed and Nayan Gazi, both ABT operatives from Bangladesh.
Mahi is supposed to be an important catch for the STF. He is supposed to have put up with Tanvir at Sree Balaji Lodge in Dobson Lane, Howrah from October 8 to 11th.
STF claims that Mahi was asked by his handler to visit Haldia. His job could have been to sent on a reconnaissance mission to study the waterways route to the country.
The STF had released Mahi's photograph and had also announced an award for credible information on Mahi.