With the turmoil in Bangladesh not ending, India has upped its security apparatus. Based on the inputs given by the Intelligence Bureau, security has been heightened at Malda, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad in West Bengal.
These areas have been marked as sensitive since they have a large number of Madrasas which are capable of providing logistic support to radical elements and terrorists from Bangladesh.
Back-to-back meetings
The situation is quite serious and there is actionable Intelligence which suggests that a major push would be made by terror groups in Bangladesh to infiltrate into India. The route that they would be looking to come in is through the West Bengal border. This is a preferred route since they have friendly networks in West Bengal, which makes their jobs easier, an Intelligence Bureau official tells Organiser.
The Intelligence agencies have said that Malda, Birbhum, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad are in particular areas of concern. Not only are there are a large number of touts who help with infiltrations from Bangladesh, but the presence of such a large number of Madrasas is also worrisome. It has been seen in the past how important a role these Madrasas have played in not just radicalising Muslims but also giving shelter to Jihadis who come in from Bangladesh.
To take stock of the situation, National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval made a visit to Kolkata last week, where he took stock of the situation. During his visit, he held back-to-back meetings with senior officials. Many high-ranking officials from the Intelligence agencies both state as well as central were part of these meetings.
Top on the agenda of these meetings were the incidents taking place in Bangladesh. The ISI’s presence in the violence torn country were also discussed during the meetings. Further officials from the northeastern states too were part of the meeting. They were advised to keep close tabs on both jihadi elements as well as some fugitive naxalites.
NSA Doval advised the officials to keep a watch particularly on those who provide logistics and financial support. The basic message was that the situation in the neighbouring country is bad and hence all should keep their eyes open at all times and the ears to the ground.
The NSA also said that there are many terror groups operating from Bangladesh., Many who had been jailed during the Sheikh Hasina regime have been released since her ouster and these elements in particular could be extremely dangerous, he said. He further added that all the terror groups have one common agenda and hence they should be viewed as one entity rather than separate ones since they function under different names.
The trip to Kolkata was made following a review at a multi-agency meeting in New Delhi that was held on February 20.
Taking stock of Maoists
Apart from Bangladesh and its terror groups, the NSA also cautioned the officials about the presence of Maoists in West Bengal. He said that the Maoists have been lying low since the killing of Kishanji, the CPI (Maoist) politburo member in 2011.
He however said that while the movement may be down, the problem is that their sympathisers are spread across the state. These are the ones who help them to try and revive the movement.
The NSA also advised the officials to keep a close tab on areas which were once Maoist hotbeds. He said that many fugitive Maoists are still around. These could have come into West Bengal to take refuge following the assault on them in Chhattisgarh. He also reminded the officials about Hunga Karma who had been gunned down in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar earlier this month. He said that Karma had taken refuge in West Bengal since 2012 and helped revive the movement in Chhattisgarh. He was able to do so since there are a large number of sympathisers in West Bengal.
The NSA said that the Union Government has made it clear that it wants to wipe out Maoism from the country by March 2026. While the forces are making heavy gains in Chhattisgarh, the problem lies in states such as West Bengal which has a large number of sympathisers. The Intelligence Bureau has said that the focus should be on hunting down five Maoists who have a Rs 1 crore bounty on their heads. These people are capable of using the large network of sympathisers in a bid to revive the movement. The IB has identified these persons as Mallojula Venugopal Rao, Nirmala, Katakam Sudarshan, Madvi Hidma and Thippiri Tirupathi.
