Arrested members of banned outfit Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh had plans to target ‘Chicken’s Neck’, create instability: Bengal police

PTI, Kolkata, 21.12.24: The eight suspected members of terrorist outfit Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh, who were recently arrested, had been planning to target the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ connecting West Bengal’s Siliguri with the northeastern states, a top police officer said.

They wanted to create large-scale instability in the corridor by carrying out synchronised attacks and fomenting instability, he said.

The West Bengal Police recovered pen drives and documents from two suspected members of the terrorist outfit, who were arrested in Murshidabad district.

ADG Supratim Sarkar told reporters on Friday that the duo was part of a group of eight people apprehended by Bengal, Kerala and Assam police.

Inquiries revealed they had specific plans to target the ‘Chicken’s Neck’, also known as the Siliguri Corridor – the only connectivity with the seven states of the northeast.

Sarkar said the state police had got a tip-off about a sleeper cell of the outfit, which was active since August.

"We have recovered a 16 GB pen drive, some jihadi literature and fake identity cards from the two suspects, identified as Abbas Ali and Minarul Sheikh. We suspect they were part of a sleeper module aiming to create instability in sensitive areas of south and north Bengal, as well as in the seven sister states of the northeast,” Sarkar had said.

“They were setting up bases in Murshidabad and Alipurduar districts, with plans to eliminate prominent Hindu leaders in the eastern and northeastern regions and carry out attacks similar to the 2015 hacking of a blogger in Bangladesh," he added.

Sarkar also pointed out that Murshidabad had become a transit route for members of banned Bangladeshi outfits like Ansar-al-Islam.