New Delhi: An Islamic State (IS) affiliate group has issued a threat to carry out strikes in India and Bangladesh after naming one Abu Muhammed al-Bengali as its new emir in ‘Bengal.’ “If you think you have silenced the soldiers of the Khilafa in Bengal and Hind and you are certain about that then listen we men are never to be silenced. And our thirst for revenge is never to be faded away,” the IS poster released in Bengali, English and Hindi reads.
The development comes just a day after Islamic State carried out a minor explosion near a cinema theatre in Dhaka. The minor blast took place near Gulistan theatre recently. Though no casualties were reported, a few policemen did sustain injuries in the blast. The IS released the statement in Arabic through its mouthpiece Amaq. Subsequently, it also released Bengali translation of its statement on the Dhaka attack along with transcript of Baghdadi's speech. The Indian intelligence is closely monitoring the developments in Bangladesh as they suspect that this incident could be a smokescreen and the real attack may still be coming either in Bangladesh or West Bengal.
The quick unfolding of developments and spurt in circulation of IS-related material in Bengali language has rung alarm bells across agencies. Recently, pro-IS Telegram channels had released a poster in Bengali saying "Coming soon." Dhaka Metropolitan Police chief Asaduzzaman Mia said that the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime and DMP’s bomb disposal units were still investigating the incident. The improvised bomb that exploded in Gulistan was different from normal crude bombs, he added.
Agencies had started a probe after the poster - which read: “Shighroi Aschhe (coming soon), Inshallah..” came into circulation on Telegram. The poster flashed the logo of a group called al Mursalat and the threat was issued by the same group. “It is serious.. IS has just managed to pull of serial blasts in Colombo through a local outfit called Tawheed Jamaat. Bangladesh already has a strong Islamic State presence with a section of the local terrorist organisation named Jamatul Mujahideen (New-JMB) being affiliated to the IS central,” an officer said.
The threat to West Bengal cannot be ignored as JMB operatives have been known to frequent Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal and neighbouring states for recruitment and establishing hideouts, another anti-terror unit officer said.
