In a press statement, the central agency on Monday said the arrests were made on the basis of revelations made during its investigation and the identification of the accused from video footages of the violence that took place on March 30, 2023.

“The accused were among the perpetrators of the attack on members of a particular community participating in the procession,” the agency said, terming their arrest as a “major breakthrough”.

The state police had initially registered a case against 162 persons in the wake of the violence triggered by the attack at Dalkhola’s Tajamul Chowk. The Calcutta High Court had on April 27, 2023, ordered the transfer of cases related to voilence to the NIA which took up investigation of six such cases.

The agency has identified the arrested accused as Afroj Alam, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Imtiaz Alam, Irfan Alam, Kaiser, Mohammad Farid Alam, Mohammad Furkan Alam, Mohammad Pappu, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Sarjan, Mohammad Nurul Hoda alias “Nanua”, Wasim Arya, Mohammad Salahuddin, Mohammad Jannath Alam, Wasim Akram alias “Vicky”, and Mohammad Tanweer Alam – all residents of Dalkhola.

The NIA is continuing further investigations in the case, an official said.