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Islamic State Planned Attack on ‘Mother House’ in Kolkata

Security outside the Mother House has been stepped up by the Kolkata Police.

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Mother House, the headquarters of Missionaries of Charity where Saint Teresa is buried in Kolkata, was being targeted by Islamic State.

Mohammad Masiruddin alias Musa, the 25-year-old suspect arrested in July following the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, confessed that Mother House was a target given the footfall of tourists and dignitaries from around the world, as reported by The Times of India.

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In a chargesheet filed at a special court by the NIA, it mentioned Musa had to himself accompany the attackers in the strike.

Security outside the Mother House has been stepped up by the Kolkata Police. An eight-member team has been deployed along with plain-clothes cops placed strategically around the location. “Suspicious strangers” will be kept an eye on and the arrangements are to continue for a few days.

Musa reportedly confessed to the blueprint for the attack being in the works. Tourists from America, Russia, and Britain frequent the location and they were the targets, as their governments are fighting against Islamic State fighters in Syria.

He confessed to having two handlers, one of them being in Syria while the other is a member of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh and is absconding. He also said he wanted to carry out a lone-wolf style attack, like the ones in Orlando and Nice, but did not specify a target location.

Musa was forced to hastily alter plans after two operatives – Saddam Hussein alias Sheikh Kalo and Sheikh Abbasuddin – were nabbed by CID. So he decided to flee to India via Nepal and head to Syria.

He confessed to having met a key Bangladeshi Jamaatul Mujaideen operative, Muhammad Suleiman.

Investigators suspect Musa planned an “IS-style” attack but had been arrested just in time. During interrogation, he confessed to having 20 email IDs, 12 Facebook accounts and eight Twitter handles.

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