WB STF: JeM suspect planned sabotage at CJP Jantar Mantar

The West Bengal Special Task Force on Saturday said a suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed operative, arrested from Purba Bardhaman, had planned to infiltrate the students' protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar by procuring a police uniform and carrying out sabotage there.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Inspector General of Police (Special Task Force) Gourav Sharma identified the accused as 24-year-old Mohammed Hamim Mondal, arrested from the Renaissance Complex in Purba Bardhaman early on Friday. His alleged associate Arpita Sarkar was arrested later the same day from Sahibganj in Jharkhand.

"Besides that, several police officers and politicians were also planned to be targeted," Sharma said, according to News9live and OrissaPOST.

The Jantar Mantar sit-in, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper-leak row, had ended on July 25 after 36 days. The STF's disclosure raises the spectre of an external effort to weaponise that gathering.

What we can verify

• The STF held a press conference on Saturday where IG Gourav Sharma said Mondal, with handlers based in Pakistan, planned to "somehow procure a police uniform and carry out sabotage at the recent students' protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi." — The New Indian Express; News9live; OrissaPOST
• Sharma said he could not confirm whether Mondal had actually visited Jantar Mantar during the protest. — The New Indian Express
• Investigators alleged Mondal was in contact with Pakistan-based handlers, including people identified as "Rana", "Uzair", "Abid Jatt 333" and "Hamad", with links to the Shahzad Bhatti gang and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. — News9live
• The STF said Mondal was also tasked with gathering information on the movements of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who the agency called one of the intended targets. — OrissaPOST; Connected to India
• Arpita Sarkar, described by police as Mondal's associate and partner, was arrested from Jharkhand's Sahibganj. The STF alleged the two were part of a "honey-trap" network used against a minister of state from Howrah, his son the alleged kidnap-and-extortion target. — The New Indian Express; OrissaPOST
• Forensic examination of Mondal's phone reportedly revealed alleged communication through encrypted platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Element X and Session after initial contact on Instagram; UK- and Mexico-issued international SIM cards were also said to have been recovered. — OrissaPOST; Connected to India
• Adhikari, asked about the case on Friday, called it a "sensitive" matter and said the STF was examining information recovered from Mondal's electronic devices. — Connected to India

What the STF did not establish

• Whether Mondal actually reached Jantar Mantar on any day of the protest, or whether the alleged sabotage plan was ever executed, remains [unverified]; the STF itself said it could not confirm his presence.
• The agency's claim of JeM and ISI links, the specific handler identities, and the alleged honey-trap-and-kidnap conspiracy against the Howrah minister's son rest on police assertions at a press briefing. No court has yet ruled on these allegations, which are [unverified] against any judicial finding.
• Any direct organisational link between the accused and the CJP, as distinct from an alleged plan to exploit the site of the protest, has not been alleged by the STF in the cited reporting and remains [unverified].

Context

The CJP sit-in at Jantar Mantar ran from June 20 to July 25, concluding after Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned over the NEET paper-leak controversy. The protest's Sansad Chalo march on July 20 had spiralled into clashes with police. The STF's disclosure does not implicate the protest's organisers or participants; it describes an alleged plot by an external group to use the gathering as cover for an attack.