Kolkata, August 3: The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police has obtained crucial information regarding Arpita Sarkar, a female associate of suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) operative Hamim Mandal. Arpita maintained regular contact with the Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN), a Pakistan-based terrorist-criminal group, through secret messages on various social media platforms.
Sources from the state police revealed that although Arpita was initially recruited by Hamim, she later began communicating independently with Bhatti, the operator of the terrorist group, bypassing him to receive separate instructions.
Investigators suspect that these operators may have aimed to use Arpita as a significant medium for honey-trapping and blackmailing influential individuals, particularly those within West Bengal’s administrative network.
Both Hamim and Arpita were arrested by STF personnel last week. Hamim was apprehended first on Friday morning in Burdwan town, located in East Bardhaman district, while Arpita was arrested the same night in Sahibganj, a neighboring state of Jharkhand.
The STF has seized two mobile phones belonging to social media influencer Arpita. Experts are currently analyzing these devices to decode the secret messages exchanged between Arpita and the SBN operators.
During police interrogation, Hamim confessed to introducing Arpita to the SBN operators. However, sources linked to the case noted that recognizing Arpita’s potential as a means for honey-trapping, the SBN operators began contacting her directly to issue instructions.
Initial investigations revealed that Arpita had started establishing contact with several influential figures in West Bengal to extract confidential information. Social media reels circulated on various platforms served as a potential tool to attract individuals.
After questioning Hamim and Arpita, investigators traced other social media handles such as ‘Rana’, ‘Uzair’, ‘Abid Jaat333’, and ‘Hamid’. The investigation uncovered that these handles were operated by individuals in Pakistan. It was also revealed that SIM cards from the UK and Mexico were used for these Pakistani handles.
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