Assam STF Nabs Two Jihadi Terror Group Members From Kokrajhar

Police claim with the arrest of the two, a major act of terror planned by Bangladeshi handlers was averted.

Guwahati: Close on the heels of busting a terror module with the arrest of eight persons, Assam police arrested two more Jihadi operatives and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from their possession.

An Assam Police spokesperson said the two were arrested during an operation carried out by the Special Task Force (STF) from Nampara area under Kokrajhar police station in Kokrajhar district on Tuesday night. Those who were arrested during the operation are Abdul Zaher Sheikh and Sabbir Mirdha of Nampara and Serfangguri, police said. Four handmade rifles, 34 rounds of live ammunition, 24 rounds of blank cartridges, a hand grenade, detonators, iron cases used for making IEDs, huge number of switches, explosives, firecrackers and other incriminating items were recovered from their possession. Police also claimed that the arrest of the two and the recovery of arms and ammunition from them helped avert a major act of terror planned by Bangladesh-based handlers.

On December 19, the STF had busted a terror module and arrested eight persons from different places in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala.All the accused were linked to Bangladesh-based Jihadi terror network Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is allegedly establish sleeper cells across the country, particularly in Assam and West Bengal.

Those arrested by the STF include Bangladeshi national, Md Sad Radi alias Shab Seikh (36) from Kerala. Radi is a resident of Rajshahi in Bangladesh and was sent to India in November to spread the outfit's nefarious ideology and create sleeper-cells amongst like-minded individuals across India to initiate violent and subversive actions.

Radi visited Assam and West Bengal to meet sleeper-cell activists of the banned ABT, before he moved to Kerala for the same purpose," police said, adding the terror module apart from trying to destabilize the region was also trying to target members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu organizations. Ansarullah Bangla Team is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, also part of a global terrorist organisation.