24-Yr-Old Picked Up From Gym In Gated Township
Burdwan/Kolkata: A 24-year-old suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operative, who was allegedly tracking CM Suvendu Adhikari’s movements, was picked up from a gym within a gated township in Burdwan by the state’s Special Task Force (STF) on Thursday night. Investigators suspect Hamim Mondal came into contact with the Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti–Azmal Gujjar gang about a year ago through social media.Hamim, whose seized IDs show his date of birth as Dec 18, 2002, had moved into an apartment in Renaissance Township with his father, brother and sister barely three months ago with the help of a local broker, Syed Mazharul Ali, who runs a grocery store there. Their landlord, Ekta Mehra, is a Delhi resident who hasn’t stayed in the flat for the past nine years. Mondal had told neighbours that he worked for an IT company.Hamim was nabbed by STF personnel around 8 pm while he was working out at Renaissance Fitness Studio.Hamim had left his job tagging barcodes on ready-made garments at a factory in Howrah’s Pilkhana area just before this year’s assembly elections and shifted to the Burdwan address. STF is probing if he had previously lived in a rented flat in New Town. Investigators believe he recced the movements of CM Adhikari, who now resides in Chinar Park off New Town.Initial findings by intelligence agencies indicate Hamim is associated with Jaish network and worked directly with the Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Bhatti-Gujjar gang.STF sources confirmed that Hamim had been in regular touch with Bhatti’s associates for nearly a year after being recruited. Over time, he received funds through illicit hawala channels and was assigned critical tasks, including establishing local sleeper cells, conducting surveillance on key religious and political figures and preparing logistic support for potential sabotage operations in Bengal.In the past seven months, joint operations conducted by central intelligence agencies and state police forces in Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and UP have led to the arrest of over two dozen operatives linked to Bhatti-Gujjar network, leading to the seizure of foreign-made weapons, narcotics, encrypted communication devices and fake identification documents.CM Suvendu Adhikari told reporters, “This is an extremely sensitive matter. There are international links. It concerns national security. The STF is investigating the case and examining the information recovered from his mobile phone and other electronic devices,” adding, “This is not just about my security. It is a matter of national security.” CM indicated he was not the only target: “Not just me, even our MoS, Umesh Rai is under threat,” he said.Rai had complained to police that he had received extortion calls from a person claiming links to a “Pakistani agency” and threatened with his son’s kidnapping. The caller had also sent him photographs of BJP office and warned of an attack on the premises. Police sources said investigators were now trying to determine whether Hamim has any connection to those threats.Hamim’s family hails from Monteswar in East Burdwan and is involved in rice trade. His uncle, Suman Mondal, claimed Hamim is a resident of Dirghanagar village under Monteswar block. “He is the son of my elder brother and all their official documents bear that address. However, the family lives in Kolkata for business purposes, where Hamim assists his father in managing the family business. During the recent elections, they came to their native village to cast their votes,” he said.
