Author: Special Correspondent
Publication: The Hindu
Date: Aug 5, 2008
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/05/stories/2008080554440700.htm
West Bengal is being increasingly used as
a transit route by operatives of militant outfits sneaking in through its
borders with Bangladesh and Nepal and heading for different parts of the country,
according to Army intelligence.
To compound matters there are reports of a
rise in the number of sleeper cells in its districts adjoining the State's
borders with these two countries. They work for various militant outfits and
facilitate the entry of militants into the country.
Some of this information related to the movement
of militants was exchanged with the civil administration at a civil-military
liaison meet held in the city last week, significant at a time when security
arrangements have been reinforced across the State in the aftermath of the
blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
The need for greater sharing of intelligence
between the Army and the State police in matters concerning militant activity
and weeding out sleeper cells, mainly along the State's borders, was underlined
at the meeting, a source in the military establishment told The Hindu here
on Monday.
Interrogations by the State's Criminal Investigation
Department of the two men, suspected to be operatives of the Laskar-e-Taiba
arrested last week in the State's Murshidabad district that shares a border
with Bangladesh, have only confirmed the existence of several sleeper cells
in the State. While one of the men apprehended was a cloth merchant, the other
was a teacher in a local school.
The need to intensify vigil against those
not necessarily planning sabotage but working towards "subverting the
minds of the local people" in the border areas cannot be overstated,
the source said. They are locals, provide shelter to militants sneaking into
the State and act as a go-between between the latter and their associates
in different parts of the country, he added.
The State government has information that
different militant outfits funded and trained by foreign intelligence agencies
are using West Bengal's borders with Nepal and Bangladesh to their advantage.
These agencies are also suspected to be involved in transporting weapons and
explosives into the country.