Bengal Terror Suspect Planned To Infiltrate Jantar Mantar Protest

A man arrested by the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) on suspicion of having links with the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) allegedly planned to infiltrate the recent CJP protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar and gather intelligence on Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, officials said.

Hamim Mondal was arrested from Purba Bardhaman district earlier this week. According to Inspector General (STF) Gaurav Sharma, Mondal's handlers in Pakistan instructed him to enter the protest site while disguised as a police officer and create unrest.

Addressing a press conference, Sharma said the accused had also been assigned the task of monitoring Adhikari's movements and collecting information about places where the leader might have reduced security cover.

Investigators claimed that Mondal's interrogation led them to several individuals suspected of having links with the terror outfit. A court has remanded him to 14 days of STF custody.

Meanwhile, Mondal's associate, Arpita Sarkar, was arrested from Jharkhand on Friday. Officials alleged that the pair were involved in a conspiracy to honeytrap and abduct the son of state minister Umesh Ray and then extort money from the family.

According to investigators, Sarkar allegedly used social media platforms to gather sensitive information from politicians and other prominent individuals before passing it on to Mondal. Authorities also claimed that her WhatsApp conversations revealed connections with Pakistan-based operatives.

The STF recovered international SIM cards issued in the United Kingdom and Mexico and suspects that they were used for encrypted communications with handlers. Investigators are now attempting to uncover the wider network and identify additional operatives linked to the alleged module.