Black_cats
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Messages
- 10,031
- Reaction score
- -5
CM Mamata Banerjee's residence intruder had 11 SIM cards, visited Bangladesh: SIT
Dwaipayan Ghosh | TNN | Updated: Jul 12, 2022, 07:17 ISTThe SIT, which is now probing the case, told an Alipore court on Monday that Molla had carried out a recce of the CM's residence at least seven to eight times since March
KOLKATA: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the security breach at chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence on July 3 has found that the intruder-31-year-old Hafizul Molla-had been using 11 SIM cards. Molla, a resident of Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas, had used those SIM cards to make calls to Bihar, Jharkhand and Bangladesh.
Mollah had sneaked into the high-security residence of Banerjee-a Z-plus protectee-with an iron rod hidden inside his shirt and remained unnoticed on the high-security premises for over seven hours. The incident had led to a large-scale shake-up of the security unit tasked to guard the chief minister's residence.
The SIT, which is now probing the case, told an Alipore court on Monday that Molla had carried out a recce of the CM's residence at least seven to eight times since March and clicked photographs of the house and its precincts. Several CCTV footage images collected in the past four months showed his presence, claimed cops. He even offered chocolates, toffees and cold drinks to children living in the Kalighat neighbourhood to collect information on Banerjee, claimed sources.
The accused had visited Bangladesh once during the Durga Puja immersions, crossing over to the other side of the Ichhamati by boat. But his whereabouts there and the identity of the people he met or called in Bihar, Jharkhand and Bangladesh were yet to be ascertained. He was also accused of theft in Hasnabad but was let off by a village court (salishi sabha).
The probe team said considering the revelations, they would like to know Molla's motive and whether he was part of a larger conspiracy. Accordingly, they asked the court to be allowed to add IPC 120B (criminal conspiracy) and further police custody of the accused. The Alipore court extended Molla's police remand for seven days.
"We submitted before court that there had been substantive development in the probe and that the investigation was still progressing. We provided every detail in the case diary. Accordingly, the accused was sent to police custody again," a senior officer said, adding the investigating team would now want to record the statement of those who received calls from Molla. Sources said they would visit Hasnabad and investigate how the SIM cards were procured. "A major portion of the probe will try to ascertain where Molla might have sent the CM's residence photographs that he had clicked. We have reassessed her security and appropriate measures have been taken," said a Lalbazar officer.
CM Mamata Banerjee's residence intruder had 11 SIM cards, visited Bangladesh: SIT - Times of India
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the security breach at chief minister Mamata Banerjee's Kalighat residence on July 3 has found that the intruder-31-year-old Hafizul Molla-had been using 11 SIM cards. Molla, a resident of Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas, had used those SIM cards to...
m.timesofindia.com