CM refutes NIA reports, says plot to murder Dalai Lama not hatched in state

Bengaluru: Hours after the National Investigation Agency charged two terror suspects, arrested from Bengaluru recently of conspiring to kill Dalai Lama, Chief minister Kumaraswamy clarified that no such plot had been hatched in the state.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha here on Monday, Kumaraswamy said that as per the intel provided by the state police no such attempt was made in Karnataka.

The NIA, on Monday, stated that two persons, suspected to be members of a Bangladesh-based terror outfit, were the masterminds behind the planting of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Bodh Gaya on January 19 this year. In a charge sheet filed before the Special Court in Patna on Thursday, the NIA said that the explosion was to have been carried out when the Dalai Lama and the governor of Bihar were at the Bodh Gaya temple.

On August 6 this year Adil Sheikh,29, who is believed to be a senior member of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB), Bangladesh was arrested from Cantonment Railway Station and a day later the second suspect, Mohammed Jahidul Islam alias Munir Sheikh, 38, a native of Jamalpur, Bangladesh was arrested from Ramanagaram.

“The two men had played a role in planting IEDs at a kitchen set up in Bodh Gaya on January 19 this year to express solidarity with Rohingya Muslims fighting the Myanmar government and wage a war against the government of India,” the NIA statement said.

However the plot was foiled and the area secured by the police who immediately swung into action having received information regarding some suspicious objects lying near the Kalchakra Maidan, Bodh Gaya, under a generator set. During the search, the police had found two more live IEDs.

The charge sheet further states that suspect Jahidul Islam conspired with two others to carry out terror attacks in India by planting IEDs and carrying out explosions at Buddhist monuments and sites to show solidarity with the Rohingya Muslims.

“The accused met at multiple locations and carried out reconnaissance of the targets at Bodh Gaya and procured explosives and other materials to manufacture IEDs,” the NIA said.

Jahidul Islam, with the help of the other co-accused, allegedly made three IEDs and two hand grenades. The IEDs were allegedly planted by Adil Sheikh, Dilwar Hossain and Arif Hussain in Bodh Gaya. NIA had earlier established links to eight persons in the case out of whom seven were arrested. NIA is yet to arrest Arif Hussain.