July 30: One of the two men held in Murshidabad yesterday for their Lashkar-e-Toiba links had been roped in to start a camp in his village to motivate local youths to join the outfit, the CID said today.

Mohammad Mustaque, 30, whose family owns a garment shop at Raghunathgunj bazaar, has apparently revealed to police the role he was to play as a Lashkar operative.

He was arrested along with associate Mohammad Nazrul, 23, yesterday on the charge of providing refuge to Pakistani militant Sikandar Azam for a month.

Sikandar was held in Jammu last week. With the alleged guidance of Sikandar and Mohammad Safique, a Lashkar man operating in Bangladesh, Mustaque had opened an organisation called Al-e-Hadis.

“It was formed a couple of months ago to recruit youths from the Raghunathgunj area. Lashkar leaders would often visit the place and attend classes with local people to motivate them to join the organisation,” said CID special inspector-general S.N. Gupta. Nazrul, a schoolteacher, used to help Mustaque run the camp.

An officer of the CID’s special operations group said Mustaque had met Safique during a visit to Biratnagar in Nepal last week.

Mustaque is said to have admitted that Safique was in his house when Jammu police caught Sikandar.

Gupta said Jammu police would soon take Mustaque into their custody. The duo were today sent to 14 days’ jail custody.