West Bengal STF traces tailoring shop linked to arrested suspected JeM member

The West Bengal STF has traced a tailoring shop linked to suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed member Hamim Mondal, arrested in East Burdwan. Investigators suspect the shop may have functioned as a contact point while probing an alleged plot linked to a recent protest rally

Kolkata: The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police on Sunday found a tailoring shop owned by Hamim Mondal, a suspected Jaish‑e‑Mohammed (JeM) member, who was arrested from a posh housing colony in Burdwan town in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district.

Sources aware of the development said the shop is located at Pilkhana, a predominantly minority-dominated area in Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district. Apparently, the said shop was mainly involved in minor tailoring-related activities like preparing and stitching clothing tags.

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However, sources said, the investigating officials doubt that this shop might be an important point of contact for Mondal with his associates, where the tailoring works were just used as a camouflage.

A state police officer said on condition of anonymity that in his initial days in West Bengal, Mondal stayed at Pilkhana and probably during those days he set up the tailoring shop. However, the cops added, after setting up the shop there, he first shifted to the New Town area in the northern outskirts of Kolkata and subsequently to Burdwan town.

It is learnt that the shop is located at a narrow alley at Alam Mistry Lane in the Pilkhana area. The investigating officials have come to know that in his initial days in West Bengal, Mondal used to stay in a rented one-room flat in a housing complex there.

Meanwhile, Hamim Mondal’s father, Moinuddin Mondal, who also used to reside with his son at Pilkhana, has gone absconding since his son was apprehended by the STF.

As claimed by the local resident to media persons, Hamim Mondal was an extremely reserved person and rarely interacted with people during his stay at Pilkhana. However, the locals have claimed that his absconding father was known to interact at times with the local people. The locals, at the same time, said there were doubts that the absconding person who introduced himself as Hamim’s father was really his father.

Meanwhile, following the integration of Hamim and his arrested aide, Arpita Sarkar, the STF sleuths have revealed that they planned to disrupt the recent protest rally organised by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

“There were plans to procure police uniforms for this purpose, so that they could mix with the crowd posing as cops and thus create chaos. However, it is not clear whether Hamim or Sarkar went to Jantar Mantar or not, or whether they were ultimately successful in procuring police uniforms,” said STF Inspector General Gaurav Sharma on Saturday.