Terror Suspect Had Jantar Mantar Plot. Girlfriend's Social Media Exposed Him

A terror suspect arrested in West Bengal had planned to target Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and infiltrate the recent CJP protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, the Special Task Force (STF) has said. Hamim Mondal, linked to the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group, was arrested from Purba Bardhaman district two days ago.

Inspector General (STF) Gaurav Sharma said that Mondal's Pakistan-based handlers wanted him to enter the Jantar Mantar protest site in a police uniform and cause unrest. "Pakistani handlers asked Hamim Mondal to infiltrate the student protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi while dressed in a police uniform and carry out disturbances," he told a press conference.

Besides, Hamim was also allegedly tasked with keeping a watch on the chief minister's movements, according to the STF.

"The chief minister was one of the targets," said Sharma. "Hamim was asked to gather information on the places the chief minister could remain unguarded," the senior official added.

During Mondal's interrogation, the STF identified links to several handlers of the JeM terror group in West Bengal.

A court has sent him to 14 days' STF custody.

His girlfriend, Arpita Sarkar, was also arrested on Friday from Jharkhand. The two were allegedly conspiring to honeytrap and kidnap state minister Umesh Ray's son and extort from his family.

They were working at the behest of Pakistani handlers linked to the Shahzad Bhatti gang, an official said.

Read: Terror Plot To 'Honey-Trap' Politicians? Bengal Cops Arrest Jharkhand Woman

Sarkar had allegedly honey-trapped several well-known people, including politicians, to obtain information and passed those to Hamim, police said, adding her WhatsApp chats had revealed links to Pakistan.

The STF has also recovered international SIM cards issued in the UK and Mexico from them. The agency suspects they used the SIMs for encrypted communication with their handlers and sleeper cells.

While checking his mobile phone and social media history, the STF has also found that Mondal was radicalised through social media before he started working for his Pakistan-based operatives.

The handlers, 'Rana', 'Uzair', 'Abid Jatt 333', and 'Hamad' are suspected to be the handlers of the Shahzad Bhatti gang. The gang is allegedly involved in radicalisation, terror recruitment, and narco-terror activities.

Mondal and Sarkar first met on Instagram and had been in a relationship for four years. The STF first zeroed in on Sarkar's social media account during a probe into the honeytrap case, and that led to Mondal.

The agency is now trying to ascertain the full extent of the terror network and identify other members of the module and their cross-border links, the senior official said, adding that more information cannot be disclosed given the sensitivity of the issue.