Cops arrest another suspect in Bengal terror case involving Jaish-e-Mohammed

Mangalore Today News Network

Kolkata, Aug 3, 2026: The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police on Monday arrested another suspected terrorist from Bengal in connection to Hamim Mondal, a suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) associate, who was arrested last week.

According to the police sources, a college student, Aditya Singh, was arrested from his house for his alleged connection to the terror link. 

This is the third arrest after Hamim Mondal and his girlfriend Arpita Sarkar. Bengal STF reached out to Aditya Singh after interrogating Hamim and Arpita. 

Police sources said Aditya Singh was given an assignment to click photos of West Bengal Minister Umesh Rai’s son and his whereabouts. Aditya clicked some pictures of Umesh Rai’s son, his car and residence and also forwarded them to Hamim Mondal and Arpita through a secret social media app.

Umesh Rai is also a resident of Howrah and represents the Howrah Uttar constituency. He earlier alleged he was receiving threat calls since he has been elected minister.

"Today another criminal with regard to the terror network has been arrested. Apart from the Chief Minister, I was also their target. Some people were assigned after me. After Hamim and his girlfriend, today another boy named Aditya Singh, who is originally from Azamgarh but was residing in Howrah, was arrested. They were associated with an international terrorist organisation. Strong action is needed to be taken," Rai said.

According to police sources, Aditya was linked to the threatening call made to state minister Umesh Rai in Howrah; he was the one who provided various details about the minister to Hamim. The matter is being investigated. Sources said Aditya Singh was associated with a plot to kidnap Umesh Rai’s son through a honey trap.

Hamim’s father, who is on a run, had rented a place in Howrah’s Pilkhana Market area. We have learnt that Hamim used to stay at that place of Howrah. Investigators are also looking at the connection to this. Police are also investigating if any foreign funding was done for that.

Earlier, the police had arrested Hamim’s associate, Arpita Sarkar, from Jharkhand. It is alleged that they maintained regular contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. They had planned to carry out terrorist subversive activities in West Bengal; even Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari was on their target list.

Aditya Singh’s arrest marks the third arrest in four days. Kolkata police commissioner Ajay Nand said, "We are closely working with the Bengal STF. If any information comes from them regarding any suspected person, we will promptly act on that."

NIA officials are currently interrogating Hamim and Arpita to determine the extent of the militant network’s reach. A three-member team questioned Hamim Mondal and Arpita Sarkar for two hours. NIA sources indicate that the two mobile phones seized from the arrested individuals revealed regular contact with several militant handlers in Pakistan. The investigation has also uncovered financial transactions involving cryptocurrency. Interrogation revealed that they had targeted several prominent political leaders and ministers at both the state and central levels. Officials also questioned them regarding the routes and methods agreed upon by Pakistani militants for smuggling weapons into India.

NIA is currently trying to unearth the anti-national activities they had done earlier.