Assam Police Arrest 4 Al Qaeda-Linked Terror Suspects, Says CM
Guwahati: The Assam police have arrested four persons belonging to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), including a madrasa teacher, the official said on Monday.
The arrests were made during raids in Tamulpur and Nalbari, officials said.
As per a police source, two ABT operatives were arrested during the raid in Tamulpur. Police claimed they were part of the AQIS-backed terror module.
Tampulpur police arrested Sadek Ali was arrested from Dongar Gaon Anchalik Madrasa and Jakibul Ali for allegedly indoctrinating youths to join ABT.
In a separate raid, based on specific information about their involvement in jihadi activities, Habel Ali and Abu Raihan were arrested by Nalbari police from their houses on Sunday. Both were produced in court on Monday and remanded to police custody for 10 days, said police.
Taking to Twitter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, “We’re determined to root out jihadi elements from Assam.
@TamulpurPolice has done a commendable job in nabbing 2 persons — Sadeq Ali & Jakibul Ali — who lured youth to join B’desh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team affiliated to al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).”
“Arrest of Sadeq Ali is a significant achievement since he had been radicalising youth including Jakibul Ali for past 2 years. He was also associated with JMB & Neo-JMB. Meanwhile, Ghagrapar Police (Nalbari Dist) too arrested 2 persons — Habel Ali & Abu Raihan — in similar a case”, Sarma added in another tweet.
Last month, a madrasa was demolished in Morigaon district over suspected terror links with an AQIS module. Since August, four madrasas have been demolished in Assam over alleged links with terror outfits and attempts to set up “jihadi sleeper cells” in the state.
As per officials, since April, at least 40 people, including a Bangladeshi national arrested, for alleged links to ABT on charges of indoctrinating youth and creating sleeper cells of the terror outfit.
Last month, Sarma had informed the assembly that 84 people have been arrested in the state since May 2016, when the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government was formed in the state for alleged jihadi activities. As many as 35 of those arrested were from JMB (Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) , 9 from Hijbul Mujahideen (HM) and 40 others from ABT, CM added.
The CM further added that 10 of the 84 arrested, including Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Mohammed Suman, were connected to madrasas.
