12 'Jihadis' of Bangladeshi terror group arrested in Assam

Twelve alleged Jihadis, with links to the Bangladesh-based terror group Ansarul Islam, were arrested in two districts of Assam, police officers said on Thursday.

Seven others, suspected to be linkmen of the same outfit, were also nabbed in Morigaon district.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said two major terror modules were busted in the state in a “nationally coordinated operation”.

Of the 12 suspected Jihadis, 10 were arrested in various pockets of Jania area of Barpeta district, while one was taken into custody from Guwahati, Superintendent of Police Amitabh Sinha said.

Morigaon district police chief Aparna Natarjan said another person, who runs a private madrasa at Soruchola village under Moirabari police station was arrested and charged with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 

She said the arrested man, Mufti Mustafa, was allegedly involved in various financial transactions and anti-national activities linked to Ansarul Islam, which is affiliated with a larger outfit - Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent.

Seven other people, nabbed by the police on suspicion of being linkmen of the Ansarul Islam, are all teachers of another madrasa in the village.

Since 2019, Mustafa had several financial transactions with Ansarul Islam activists Amiruddin Ansari and Mamun Rashid who were arrested in Kolkata and Barpeta respectively a few months ago.

Mustafa's bank accounts have been seized and are being analysed, Natarajan said,

During investigations, it has also come to light that he had also given shelter to a 'wanted person' of a foreign country in the madrasa who managed to escape.

The arrests were made since Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the chief minister told reporters that it was a ''nationally coordinated operation'' in which two major terror modules were busted in the state.

“Some fundamentalists are active to destabilise Bangladesh, and Assam -- a border state -- has to face the pitfalls associated with that. We are, however, alert to nab them and destroy the modules,” Sarma said.

Two days ago, a youth from Assam was arrested in Bengaluru while another person with links to the outfit was nabbed from Bongaigaon in the state on Wednesday, Sarma said.

The madrasa from where Mustafa was arrested is a private one and it has been closed down, he said adding that its students will be admitted to government schools.

All government madrasas have been closed down in Assam sometime back.

It was in Barpeta where five alleged members of Ansarul Islam, earlier called Ansarul Bangla Team, were arrested in March and since then, over 30 people linked with it have been nabbed.

Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta had said in March that they were involved in the killing of bloggers, artists, poets and those who did not follow radical fundamentalism or had an independent train of thoughts.