New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has asked the special task force (STF) of Assam police to keep a close look at a few districts of the State including Dhubri, Goalpara, Nogoan following inputs of growing activities of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and other fundamentalist groups.
In fact, in a recently concluded anti-terror meeting, the activities of Jehadi fundamentalists were also elaborately discussed.
“The NIA has credentials that several jehadi fundamentalists, especially from Pakistan and Bangladesh, have been trying to make their base in Assam. Accordingly, the STF of the Assam police has been put on alert,” said a senior government official aware of the development. The STF chief from Assam Partha Sarathi Mahanta attended the anti-terror conference being organised by the NIA in New Delhi recently.
“Intelligence has also been shared with the representatives of the Assam police. The STF has already been conducting raids in different places of the State over such inputs of proliferation of jehadi activities,” the official said.
Referring to the activities of such anti-India groups in Assam’s Dhubri, Goalpara, and Nogoan districts, the official admitted the presence of strong sympathisers of jehadi groups in these three districts.
“The fundamentalist groups have chosen to make their safe house in these districts following the fact that they can lure gullible youths of these districts in the name of religion and economic discrepancies,” the official added.
In the first week of this month, NIA arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) member Sheikh Sultan Salah Uddin Ayubi alias Ayubi from Goalpara district. It was found that Ayubi was involved in radicalising and recruiting youths in JeM from Goaplara.
On Monday last, NIA conducted searches in Nogaon in connection with the activities of Al-Qaeda. The official said that members of Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) have been trying to make Assam a safe haven to increase their activities in the northeastern States.
It is worth mentioning that the recently held anti-terror conference came to a consensus on the need for stronger collaborative efforts backed by a standardized strategy to combat the menace of terrorism.
The conference focused on the need for a unified approach to deal with terrorism across states in the interest of national security. A consensus emerged during the sessions on the importance of a holistic, well-rounded strategy, encompassing the entire national framework extending from the government down to the lowest levels of policing and investigation.
