Mohammad Mustaque

July 29: A schoolteacher and a garment dealer from Murshidabad were arrested today for alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba links.

The arrests followed the capture of a Pakistani who had apparently confessed to taking refuge in their homes.

In Murshidabad’s Raghunathgunj, police found a laptop and a pen-drive, said to be containing video footage of Lashkar training camps and details of the outfit’s set-up.

CID special inspector-general S.N. Gupta said Jammu and Kashmir police had tipped off his office last night about Mohammad Mustaque, 30, and Mohammad Nazrul, 23. Special Operations Group sleuths left Calcutta immediately.

Around 1.50pm today, they cordoned off a clothes shop at Raghunathgunj bazaar. “Mustaque was in the shop. The laptop and pen-drive were found in his house in nearby Gopalnagar,” said Gupta.

Schoolteacher Nazrul was picked up from his house in the same village.

Sleuths said Mustaque admitted knowing Pakistani Sikandar Azam, who had come from Bangladesh, and allowing him to stay in his house.

The Lashkar had apparently paid Rs 2 lakh to Mustaque and Nazrul for providing Sikandar with logistical support.

“Sikandar left the state a fortnight ago, taking a train from Howrah station. He spent a couple of days in Lucknow before heading to Jammu,” said a CID officer, adding: “After Sikandar had left, Mustaque went to Biratnagar in Nepal and met some Lashkar militants.”