Guwahati:In a breakthrough, the Assam police unearthed a terror module and arrested eight persons from different places in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala. The police said that the terror module apart from trying to destabilise the region was also trying to target members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu organisations.
Special DGP of the Assam Police Harmeet Singh said this on Thursday and added that all the accused were linked to Bangladesh-based Jihadi terror network Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which was working to establish Sleeper Cells across the country, particularly in Assam and West Bengal.
The arrests were made following a nationwide operation undertaken with the active assistance of the Kerala and West Bengal Police, Singh said adding that the eight also include a Bangladeshi national, identified as Md Sad Radi alias Shab Seikh (36). "Md Sad Radi, who was arrested from Kerala, a resident of Rajshahi in Bangladesh, was sent to India in November 2024 to spread their nefarious ideology and create sleeper cells amongst like-minded individuals across India, to initiate violent and subversive actions," he said.
"Md Sad Radi visited Assam and West Bengal to meet sleeper-cell activists of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) before he moved to Kerala for the same purpose," said Chief of the Special Task Force Partha Sarathi Mahanta.
he said that the arrested individuals had been working under the direction of one Md Farhan Israk, a close associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, who is the Chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. Ansarullah Bangla Team is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, also part of a Global Terrorist Organisation.
"During the intervening night of December 17 and 18, the teams simultaneously conducted search and seizure operations at the specified and identified locations in Kerala, West Bengal and Assam, which led to the arrest of the eight," Mahanta said.
Apart from Sad Radi, others included Minarul Sheikh (40) and Md. Abbas Ali (33)--both arrested from West Bengal, Nur Islam Mandal (40), Abdul Karim Mandal (30), Mojibar Rahman (46), and Hamidul Islam (34)--all arrested from Kokrajhar district. Another one identified as Enamul Hoque (29) was arrested from Dhubri in Assam.
Mahanta said that the incriminating documents and mobile phones indicated that they had been in close coordination with and continuous communication across the border with Bangladesh & Pakistan-based entities over the last couple of months. Apart from mobile phones, police have recovered many incriminating texts with distorted religious beliefs relating to Jihad, religious books with distorted narratives, printed and published in Bangladesh and four pen drives with incriminating evidence," he said.
The police said that another four persons were also picked up by the STF team in Kokrajhar during the inquiry. They were, however, released after preliminary investigation as no such clear evidence has yet been found regarding their involvement.
Mahanta said that all the arrested accused played a pivotal role in aiding Md Sad Radi in his mission to identify, recruit and indoctrinate individuals who share or were inclined towards similar fundamentalist or Jihadi ideologies. "By exploiting local vulnerabilities, religious sentiments and fault lines, they aimed to create a network capable of operating under the radar while remaining loyal to the broader objectives of their organisation, to create disruption and chaos in India, he said.
He said that Farhan Israk was controlling the Sleeper Cell, set up by the arrested accused Nur Islam Mandal and Mazibar Rahman, directly.
"Nur Islam Mandal, along with Mazibur Rahman, visited several locations across West Bengal as part of their concerted efforts which were strategically aimed at influencing and recruiting youth to join terrorist organisations such as ABT and AQIS. Several meetings were organised in Murshidabad and Falakata, West Bengal, where participants, including Nur Islam Mandal and his associates, deliberated extensively on targeting members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu organisations. During these meetings, they devised plans to assassinate prominent religious and Hindu leaders. The motive behind these actions was to incite religious tensions and disturbances, aiming to disrupt communal harmony and destabilize the region. These discussions highlight a deliberate effort to exploit religious sensitivities for nefarious anti-national purposes, posing a significant threat to peace and security," he said.
The police said that these individuals were actively involved in the procurement of arms and ammunition, as a part of the larger conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India. Evidence suggests that these activities were carried out with the intent to equip and strengthen the operational/violent/disruptive capabilities of Jihadi/Extremist groups aiming to destabilise the nation's security and sovereignty.
