Kolkata, Dec 20 (PTI) West Bengal Police recovered pen drives and documents from the two suspected members of terrorist outfit Ansar-al-Islam Bangladesh, who were arrested in Murshidabad district.

ADG Supratim Sarkar told reporters on Friday that the duo, part of a group of eight people arrested by Bengal, Kerala and Assam police, were picked up by STF Assam in collaboration with West Bengal Police during a raid in the district on Wednesday.

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"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. 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 said.

Sheikh, a Bangladeshi citizen, had managed to procure fake documents in India, while Ali, a resident of Murshidabad, was possibly indoctrinated by Islamist jihadi elements, according to another police official.

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Sarkar also pointed out that Murshidabad had become a transit route for members of banned Bangladeshi outfits like Ansar-al-Islam. The two arrested persons, along with the others, were allegedly tasked with procuring weapons to carry out subversive activities in the region, police said.

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