In a major breakthrough for the Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force (STF), another Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) senior operative in India, Asadullah Sheikh alias Raja was arrested in Chennai.

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JMB operative arrested

Based on credible sources, an STF team arrested 35-year-old Asadullah Sheikh, who is popularly known as Raja. Raja was arrested from a rented house in Canalpuram's AA Nagar in Chennai. He hails from Nityanandapur village in Burdwan, West Bengal. Raja was also allegedly involved in the 2018 Bodh Gaya blast. 

'We have arrested Asadullah Sheikh aka Raja from Chennai earlier this morning and have him booked under 120B/121/121A/122/123/124A/125 IPC. He will be produced in court of Ld Judicial Magistrate, Alamdur for transit remand' said a senior STF officer.

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A hoard of JMB operatives busted

The arrest of Asadullah Sheikh comes after a series of arrests of JMB operatives throughout the country by Kolkata Police's STF. In just the month of August, STF arrested a senior operative of JMB by the name of Ejaz Ahmed from Bihar. 30-year-old Ejaz Ahmed was the main recruiter of JMB in India, his main objective was to recruit foot soldiers across the country. Ejaz was not only the main recruiter for JMB but also the 'Amir' or the head of all operations in India. Following the arrest of Ejaz Ahmed by STF, more JMB operatives were nabbed from Bengal. This included operatives in Malda by the names of Abdul Bari and Nizamuddin Khan and then an operative by the name of Mohammed Abul Kashem alias Kashem from Canal East Road in North Kolkata. Both Bari and Khan are residents of Itahar in North Dinajpur district and were suspected to be in constant touch with not only Ejaz Ahmed but Salahuddin Salehin as well. Salahuddin Salehin is the self-styled 'chief' and topmost operative of JMB, featuring in the most wanted list in India, as well as, Bangladesh.

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Separate Directorate for counter-terrorism unit Special Task Force

The latest arrest on Tuesday comes after the West Bengal government on Monday set up a separate directorate for its counter-terrorism unit Special Task Force for Bengal Police. STF will be headquartered in Kolkata and will be lead by Inspector General of Police, Ajay Nand.

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