Calcutta, Oct. 23: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has learnt that two Burdwan bomb assemblers had handed over 12 grenades to a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh conduit in Birbhum’s Kirnahar two weeks before the President visited the area for Durga Puja.

President Pranab Mukherjee was in his ancestral home in Kirnahar’s Mirati village between September 30 and October 3. He visits Mirati every year during Durga Puja.

A senior NIA officer said Abdul Hakim, who suffered injuries in the blast at the bomb-making unit in Burdwan’s Khagragarh on October 2, had told interrogators that he and Shakil Ahmed, who died in the explosion, had delivered the hand grenades to Kodor Sheikh, a blast suspect.

“Hakim told us that he and Ahmed had delivered the consignment in the second week of September. He claimed he did not know why the grenades had been ordered,” the officer, who questioned Hakim, said.

Hakim had apparently travelled in a bus to Kirnahar with Ahmed to hand over the grenades. Investigators have found out that the duo had taken the bus from Burdwan.

“They carried the grenades in a gunny bag that also had clothes. Initially, Hakim had kept the bag under his seat. But he later put it on his lap on Ahmed’s instruction,” an investigator said.

Hakim has told his interrogators that he was not aware of the destination till he and Ahmed got off at Kirnahar.

“Hakim identified the man who took the bag from him as Kodor. Kodor was waiting for them at the bus stop and took the bag from Hakim without a word. Kodor neither opened the bag nor asked what was inside, which suggest he knew about its contents,” the investigator said.

Kodor, a Kirnahar resident wanted in the blast case, is the brother-in-law of Kausar Ali, who allegedly paid the Burdwan terror module and took away bombs from the Khagragarh flat.

The investigator said Kodor, Hakim and Ahmed had lunch at a roadside eatery after the 12 grenades were handed over. “Two others, who Hakim claimed he did not know, also joined the trio for lunch,” he said.

An officer of a central intelligence agency said the probe had revealed that the Burdwan terror module had supplied at least four explosives consignments to Bangladesh.

Robbery ‘link’

The NIA is probing if a gang involved in a robbery at an SBI branch in Telangana’s Karimnagar district in February had any link with the Burdwan terror module.

“Yes, the links between the gang and the Burdwan group, if any, are being probed. The agency is trying to find out if there are any links,” an NIA officer told PTI.

Asked if currency notes that were taken away during the heist had been found in the Burdwan bomb-making flat, the officer said: “Further investigation details cannot be divulged at this stage.”

Four members of the banned outfit Simi who escaped from jail are suspected to be part of the gang that carried out the robbery. Around Rs 46 lakh was looted from the bank.