Minister’s HuJI link has Tripura Govt red-faced

The resignation of Tripura Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sahid Choudhury following an inquiry into his alleged link with a suspected...

The resignation of Tripura Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sahid Choudhury following an inquiry into his alleged link with a suspected Bangladeshi militant, belonging to the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HuJI), is feared to be an indicator of the reach of insurgents based in the neighbouring country.

Several ministers in the Northeast have been accused in the past of helping insurgent groups with funds and vehicles as well as providing them shelter in official quarters. However, Choudhury is the first to have an inquiry instituted against him, for alleged links with an HuJI activist and Bangladeshi national, Mamun Mian.

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While Choudhury has described the allegations as baseless and part of a conspiracy against him, intelligence sources claim Mamun Mian has confessed to coming to India “holding Sahid Choudhury’s hand”. The CPI(M) too is standing by Choudhury, with the minister saying he was only resigning in order to facilitate a “free and fair investigation”.

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Choudhury is the only Muslim minister in the newly-elected Left Front government in Tripura and is also believed to have contributed to the victory of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar from Dhanpur — which falls in the same Sonamura subdivision as his own constituency Boxanagar — by campaigning among the Muslim voters.

According to investigators, Choudhury helped Mamun Mian procure an Indian passport as well as a permanent resident certificate (PRC). Mian was held by the West Bengal CID on March 27 from Agartala following the arrest of two Bangladeshis, Alamgir Hussain and Shamim Akhtar, from Howrah along with some arms and exlosives. The two also carried details of Army bases in north Bengal.

Mamun Mian, who had procured the PRC as well as an Indian passport in the name of Suman Majumdar, has been living in Tripura for over 14 years now. Though he doesn’t have a known source of income, he lives a lavish life in a rented house hardly 200 metres away from the state police headquarters.

Sources in Agartala said the police were examining whether Choudhury also had any links in the smuggling of foodgrains and arms across the Indo-Bangla border. Choudhury’s constituency Boxanagar is located on the border, adjacent to Comilla and Brahmanbariya districts of Bangladesh.

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In fact, the opposition Congress has accused him earlier of siphoning off PDS items like rice and sugar and smuggling them out to Bangladesh. He defeated Congress candidate Billal Miyan from Boxanagar by a narrow margin of 692 votes in the recent elections.

Among other things, Mamun Mian is suspected of involvement in a fake currency racket across the Northeast. “He is believed to have circulated fake currency worth about Rs 200 crore in the past few years,” an official said.

The opposition has also alleged that Choudhury’s wife and children had travelled abroad with Mamun Mian, and has sought a CBI inquiry into this.