Bengal STF busts Pak-linked honey-trap plot; JeM associate’s aide under scanner

West Bengal STF has uncovered that Arpita Sarkar, aide of suspected JeM associate Hamim Mondal, maintained encrypted contacts with Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN). Investigators suspect she was being used for honey-trapping and blackmailing influential persons in West Bengal.

Kolkata: The sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police have secured crucial information on how Arpita Sarkar, the female aide of suspected Jaish‑e‑Mohammed (JeM) associate, Hamim Mondal, used to maintain regular contracts with Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN), a Pakistan-based terrorist-criminal group, through encrypted messages on different social media platforms.

Insiders from the state police said that although Arpita, was primarily a recruit of Hamim in the game, at a later stage the handlers of the Pakistan-based terrorist-criminal groups, used to contact her independently and send instructions separately bypassing Bhatti.

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The investigating officers suspected that these handlers in independently contacting Arpita probably tried to use her as an important medium for honey-trapping and blackmailing important persons, specially those in the administrative network in West Bengal.

Both Hamim and Arpita were arrested last week by the STF sleuths.

While Hamim was the first to be arrested from Burdwan town in East Burdwan district of West Bengal on Friday morning, Arpita was arrested on the same night from Sahibganj in neighbouring Jharkhand.

Already two mobile phones of Arpita, also a social influencer, have been seized by the STF.

Help of experts are being taken to crack the encrypted and coded message exchanged between her and the (SBN) handlers from these two mobile phones.

During police questioning, Hamim had confessed about introducing Arpita to SBN handlers.

However, sources aware of the development said that understanding the potential in her to operate as a medium of honey-trapping, the SBN handlers started contacting her independently and instructing her accordingly.

Sources aware of the development said that initial investigation had revealed that Arpita was started establishing contacts with various influential persons in West Bengal, including some politicians, as per the plan with the soul intention to extract classified information from them.

The social media reels that she circulated through different platform was a potential medium to attract people.

After interrogating Hamim and Arpita, the investigators tracked other social media handles, namely ‘Rana’, ‘Uzair’, ‘Abid Jat333’ and ‘Hamad’, among others.

Investigation revealed that all these social media handles belonged to Pakistani handlers.

The investigation revealed that these Pakistani handles also used SIM cards from Britain and Mexico.