Mother of Bengal woman held in Bangaladesh for terror links wants action

DHAKA: The mother of a 25-year-old Indian woman who was arrested in Dhaka for her alleged links with the banned militant outfit Neo-JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) has demanded strong action against her daughter. Progya alias Ayesha Jannat Mohona alias Tasnim, hails from West Bengal's Hooghly, and had purportedly converted to Islam.

Progya was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Bangladesh police and has been charged with recruiting people for terror activities and raising funds, among other charges.

"I want her to be punished as per law," her mother Geeta Debnath (50), told media at her home in Dhaniakhali, a small town in Hoogly district of West Bengal, as she struggled to hold back her tears.

Daughter of a daily wage-earner, Progya, before converting, went missing in September 2016. Intelligence sleuths came to know that she had converted to Islam in 2009 while studying in school. "It appears someone took her into confidence. She came in touch with Asmani Khatun, the chief of JMB's women's youth wing in 2016, and was recruited in the banned militant outfit.

Since then Progya alias Ayesha started visiting Bangladesh frequently to meet with militant leaders. She was there in the garb of a guest teacher at religious institutes, as was the plan of the JMB.

Her arrest came to light 3 months after India's National Investigation Agency tracked down college student Tania Parveen, a suspected Lashkar-e-Tayeba member, and an agent of ISIS, in North 24 Parganas last March.

Neo-Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) has moles planted in West Bengal and other parts of India, said sources of the intelligence team.

An official said, "We consider Ayesha a serious threat. Ayesha, who belonged to Hogghly's remote Dhaniakhali area, went to Bangladesh and was carrying out activities against the government of the neighbouring country. We do not know how many youths she recruited in India."

Asmani Khatun, 28, was arrested on February 4 from Dhaka's north Kamalapur area by a CTTC team. And since then Pragya alias Ayesha was assigned to recruit youths for the banned militant outfit, said detective officials in Dhaka.

The central agency informed India's Ministry of External Affairs about Ayesha's arrest. "We need to communicate with Bangladesh Police to know the extent of Ayesha's activities in West Bengal and India," the officer explained. Progya's mother claimed she had no idea about what was going on with Ayesha.

"My daughter was absolutely normal. I clearly remember the day my daughter left home, never to return again. One morning ahead of Durga Puja in 2016, Pragya left home saying she was going out on errands," she said. The poor mother came to know about the arrest of her daughter from the media. (IANS)

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