The National Investigation Agency continued their probe into the Burdwan blast case of 2014 and on Sunday, raided the home of arrested terror suspect Habibur Rehman in Chikkabanavara, which is located on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The NIA has recovered two bombs from the house.
Habibur Rahman (28) had allegedly stayed at the house, which prompted the raid, The Hindu reported. The explosives were recovered from the spot and the house was cordoned off. The search operation went on past midnight into the wee hours of Monday morning, the report said.
According to Deccan Herald, three people from Bihar had rented the house, which has now been vacated. Habibur Rehman was arrested by a team of NIA sleuths from Kolkata on June 25 in Doddaballapura.
Habibur Rahman is believed to be a member of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and was allegedly involved in the Burdwan blasts of 2014.
On June 26, the NIA sleuths had found two crude bombs under a bridge near a stormwater drain in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district. The crude bombs were found a day after Rehman was arrested. The NIA believes that Rehman had hidden the bombs under the parapet wall of the bridge in December 2018.
The NIA sleuths had also taken Rehman to several places in Tamil Nadu where he is believed to have stayed while he was on the run. Rehman was allegedly involved in preparing a crude bomb at the house of Hasan Choudhari at Khagragarh town in Burdwan in October 2014. The bomb exploded during while they were assembling it, killing two people and injuring many.
A case was registered by the local police, which was taken over by the NIA later. Adil Asadullah, one of Rahman’s associates, was arrested by the NIA in August 2018 from Ramanagaram. Further investigation led them to Rehman.
Habibur Rehman SK, alias Habibur SK alias Sheikh alias Habibur Kabore Shaik (28), hails from Muluk Shantipalli village in West Bengal's Birbhum district. He was chargesheeted on March 30, 2015, in the Burdwan blast case as the prime accused. He was charged with involvement in the conspiracy of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to wage war against the government of India and Bangladesh.
According to the NIA, Habibur Rehman Sheikh was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar and was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah SK alias Sajid and Moulana Yusuf.
"He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB," the NIA had said in a statement.