Kolkata, July 31 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said that apart from him, another member of the West Bengal cabinet is the target of the terrorist organisation Jaish‑e‑Mohammed (JeM).
He told this to media persons while reacting to the arrest of suspected JeM activist Hamim Mondal from Burdwan town in East Burdwan district earlier in the day. Local police had initially said the arrested person was Hamid Mondal but later rectified the name.
The STF sleuths suspect that the Chief Minister could have been the target of the suspected JeM associate as incriminating documents about his schedule were recovered from him.
“It is not the question of my personal security alone. The question of national security is involved here. Hence, it would not be fair on my part to say more on this issue. The STF will brief the media on this matter. I learnt that our minister of state Umesh Rai was also under the scanner. Please do not ask me anything else. It is a very sensitive issue. Only the STF will brief the media on the matter,” the Chief Minister said.
He added that politics and other professions will survive only if the country’s security is ensured.
“If the country is secure, everyone will be there. Politics will be there. The country will be there. You will be in your profession. We will also be there in the public field. The nation comes first,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources aware of the development said that the arrested JeM suspect had direct contact with the Sajjad Bhat Group in Kashmir. Bhat is the main accused in the Pulwama attack and Hamim is believed to be his close associate.
Adhikari’s security arrangements were periodically reviewed by the Union Government and accordingly upgraded even when he was the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.
He was on the target list of fundamentalist organisations, as per central intelligence inputs.
–IANS
src/dan
