States » EastPosted at: Oct 3 2026 12:51AM


NIA suspects Bengal imam was operating as new face of JMB-linked IMK

Katwa, Oct 2 (UNI) Though a pall of shock has descended on Kulut and Palishgram villages in the Manteswar and Mongalkote blocks of East Burdwan following the National Investigation Agency's arrest of veteran imam Piyar Mohammad Sheikh for alleged terror links, the agency believes he was operating as a new face of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in the state.
The action against Sheikh has exposed what the investigating agency believes is the emergence of Imam Mahmood Kafila (IMK), allegedly a new avatar of the banned terror outfit, in West Bengal.
Known locally as the soft-spoken 'Imam Saheb' of Palishgram mosque in Mongalkote, Sheikh's arrest has stunned locals.
His family insists he is innocent and had visited Bangladesh only for Tablighi Jamaat, a religious gathering.
His son Mizanur Rahman said, "My father's passport was issued in September 2024. He got a one-year Bangladesh visa on 20 May, 2025, and made a brief 9-day trip between 18 to 26 June, last year."
But here, investigators found some suspicious gaps.
Mosque committee member Golam Mostafa said, "Imam Saheb was absent from duties for nearly two-and-a-half months."
This prompted the NIA to suspect that he might have crossed illegally via the Tripura border later.
According to intelligence sources, after the 2014 Khagragarh blast, JMB splintered into factions like Ansarullah Bangla Team and tried to regroup under different names without much success.
Now, it has resurfaced as IMK to rebuild a pan-India network.
Sources in the NIA said Imam Sheikh was allegedly given a crucial role in this expansion, including brainwashing new recruits under the garb of religious education.
"For nearly three years he held indoctrination classes not just in Bengal but also in Assam and Tripura. The outfit's first target was Assam, where it aimed to spread its roots in every district," a senior NIA officer said.
According to the NIA investigation, the module operates in teams, with one team responsible for recruiting youths and migrant workers and another facilitating messages through social networks. Recent reporting on the probe has also identified an encrypted Telegram channel, 'Purber Akash', as being allegedly used by the network.
An official assessed that Sheikh kept a low profile, stayed off open social platforms and kept in touch with Bangladesh handlers through encrypted apps.
This is not the first time that Mongalkote has been on the radar. One Ansarullah Team operative was intercepted from there earlier, and two others from Nadan Ghat were picked up by Gujarat STF barely two years ago, police said.
In October 2014, the NIA, probing the Khagragarh blast in Burdwan, had raided a madrassa at Shimulia.
Investigators said JMB's top leadership is driving IMK, but the current strategy is not blasts or subversive activities; rather, it is trying to set up a strong sleeper-cell network in the state.
Several documents seized from Sheikh's possession were being scanned, his movements across several districts mapped, and funding channels also being probed.
The arrest comes months after Bengal STF picked up Hamid Mondal from Burdwan's posh Renaissance Township for alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed links in late July, heightening security concerns in East Burdwan.
The NIA's September 29 operation involved searches across West Bengal, Assam and Kerala in an alleged IMK-linked cross-border terror conspiracy. Four people, including Sheikh, were arrested in Bengal, according to reports. UNI KS NST
Tags: #NIA suspects Bengal imam was operating as new face of JMB-linked IMK
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