Kolkata: The Special Task Force (STF) of the West Bengal Police arrested Mohammad Hamim Mondal from his rented apartment at a housing estate in Bardhaman town on Thursday. A native of Kusumgram in Purba Bardhaman district, Mondal was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court on Friday amid tight security.
The STF sought 14 days’ police custody, citing the need for an extensive probe into his alleged links with Pakistan-based terrorist operatives and the network’s activities in the state. The court allowed the plea, following which Mondal was taken to Kolkata for sustained interrogation.
The arrest has triggered one of the most significant counter-terror investigations in West Bengal in recent years, with agencies examining whether the alleged module had moved beyond online radicalisation into active surveillance, recruitment and operational planning.
According to police sources, electronic devices, including an iPhone and mobile phones seized from the accused, are being forensically examined to reconstruct his communications, movements and the identities of those he was in contact with.
Investigators believe Mondal came into contact with Pakistani handlers through social media around a year ago. During questioning, he allegedly disclosed that one of his online contacts identified himself as an operative of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), while others claimed links to the Shahzad Bhatti network.
Security agencies have long suspected the Bhatti network of facilitating cross-border narcotics trafficking and illegal arms smuggling, with proceeds allegedly being channelled into financing terror activities in India under ISI patronage, sources said.
According to investigators, the accused was gradually indoctrinated through encrypted online conversations before allegedly being entrusted with building an espionage module in West Bengal.
The STF suspects he was tasked with identifying and recruiting new members, monitoring the movements of politicians, bureaucrats and other protected persons, studying security arrangements and relaying the information to his handlers across the border.
Investigators are also examining claims that he had been instructed to arrange weapons and identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited for future operations.
Police sources said the probe has revealed indications that the alleged network may have been collecting intelligence on BJP and RSS functionaries in the state. Materials recovered during the investigation also suggested that information relating to senior political leaders had been compiled, prompting investigators to examine whether specific individuals were being targeted.
The investigators are separately probing whether Mondal had any role in the threats allegedly received recently by minister Umesh Rai, who had complained of extortion calls from a person claiming links with a Pakistani agency and warning of attacks on BJP installations.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday described the case as “extremely sensitive” and said the investigation had national security implications extending beyond West Bengal.
“The STF is investigating the case and still has much to uncover and understand. The STF will hold a press conference on Saturday and place all the facts before the media,” Adhikari told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna.
Adhikari said that not only he, but Minister of State Umesh Rai and several other VIPs had allegedly been under surveillance, though he declined to elaborate.
Police sources said investigators are examining whether Mondal had earlier stayed in a rented accommodation in New Town on the outskirts of Kolkata before shifting to Burdwan after this year’s assembly election.
According to the STF, before moving to Bardhaman, Mondal had worked at a garments unit at Pilkhana in Howrah, where he was engaged in barcode tagging of readymade garments.
Investigators are now reconstructing his movements during that period and questioning landlords and associates to establish whether he had been operating from multiple locations.
The agency is also verifying several foreign phone numbers recovered during the searches and analysing mobile tower location data, which investigators believe indicates sustained communication with overseas handlers.
Another significant line of investigation centres on an alleged honey-trap operation.
According to STF sources, investigators have identified the accused’s links with a woman from Barharwa in neighbouring Jharkhand, who is suspected to have been part of an attempt to gather sensitive information from influential bureaucrats and politically connected individuals through personal relationships.
The investigators believe the alleged network sought to exploit such contacts to obtain confidential information and expand its intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Sources also said they are examining the accused’s suspected association with Sajjad Bhat, one of the alleged masterminds of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed after a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials stressed, however, that several aspects of the investigation are still being verified and the digital evidence recovered from the accused’s electronic devices is expected to determine the full extent of the alleged network, its foreign links and whether it had progressed beyond surveillance into preparations for violent activities.
The STF maintained that Mondal was involved in activities prejudicial to India’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security through an organised cross-border espionage network allegedly backed by Pakistan-based handlers.
