Bangladesh intelligence team to interrogate the suspected Islamic State

Kolkata, August 19: A Bangladesh intelligence team has arrived in Kolkata to interrogate the suspected Islamic State (IS) operative Md. Maisuddin alias Musa who was remanded to the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for two days by a city court on Tuesday, reports thehindu.com.

However, his counsel said that the remand to NIA custody was “totally pointless” as Musa had already spent more than a month in police custody.

Musa was arrested by the State’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in July on board a train in Bardhaman district for allegedly having links with the IS. Later, NIA took over the investigation. Musa used to work at a grocery shop in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. His arrest came following his purchase of a 13-inch-long knife and boarding a train to Birbhum, which made the investigators more suspicious.

“An intelligence team from Bangladesh including officials of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which is probing the recent terror attack in Dhaka, arrived in the city on Monday to interrogate Mr. Maisuddin,” said an official involved in the investigation. NIA sources told The Hindu that the Bangladesh intelligence team will also visit Delhi later this week.

However, different versions emerged regarding the purpose of the Bangladesh intelligence team’s visit. “Immediately after the terror attacks in Dhaka we have been sharing information with Bangladesh police. However, I don’t think that the latest visit has anything to do with Mr. Maisuddin,” NIA sources said.

Speaking to The Hindu on Wednesday, NIA counsel Shyamol Ghosh said that it was necessary to have Musa in NIA custody for verification of some evidences. “Some new evidence has emerged from other sources which needed to be verified,” he added.

However, Musa’s counsel Amalendu Sarkar argued that “what is the reason for remanding him to NIA custody when he has already spent 37 days in police custody.”