UNION MINISTER and BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday said that West Bengal has become a “safe haven for terrorists and jihadi elements” under the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government.

Majumdar hit out at the government over reports of the arrest of alleged Ansar-al Islam Bangladesh operatives in West Bengal.

He was speaking to mediapersons at a function to pay tributes to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his centenary year.

Majumdar said, “Jihadi elements from Bangladesh who were arrested had multiple ration cards, passports, Aadhaar cards and voter IDs. The police and administration failed to track such jihadis.”

“Due to the indifferent attitude of the TMC government, Islamist fundamentalists are setting up base in places such as Murshidabad district, procuring genuine documents and radicalising youths. The CM is busy pursuing her appeasement policy and taking no action against Islamic fundamentalists,” Majumdar, who is Union Minister of State for Education, alleged.

“We are living in a most

vulnerable situation in the state. Terrorists are being caught by inter-state STF forces from places like Murshidabad and Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district. While we are talking about ‘Sushan’ (good governance) ushered in by Vajpayee ji when he was the PM, we are witnessing ‘aposashan’ (misgovernance) in West Bengal under the rule of Mamata Banerjee,” he said.

Eight suspected Ansar-al Islam Bangladesh activists were recently arrested by Assam police with support from West Bengal and Kerala counterparts.

Two of the eight – who were planning to carry on attacks on prominent Hindu leaders and planning to snap communication between Siliguri and northeastern states – were picked up from Murshidabad district.

Inquiries revealed they had managed to procure all necessary documents to pose as citizens in recent years.