Guwahati: National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 4 Jihadi linked with Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from the Goalpara district of Assam. A joint team of Assam police and NIA raided three district locations in the last 24 hours and arrested the jihadi members. Out of the four arrests, three Jihadis were on bail granted by the court.
Another Jihadi was arrested from the nearby Bongaigaon district. The arrested jihadists were identified as Abdus Sobahan of Govindpur under Goalpara police station, Abdus Sobahan of Tinkonia under Marnai police station and Jalaluddin Sheikh of Matia Tilapara while Hafizur Rahman of Kabaitari under Bongaigaon police station.
It should be mentioned that Assam police arrested Abdus Sobahan, Abdus Sobahan and Jalaluddin Sheikh for their link with Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a terrorist organisation based in Bangladesh and part of the Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). The three jihadis were arrested by the NIA days after being granted bail. Police sources said that after getting bail, the three Jihadis reinvolved in anti-national activities and were planning to reactivate new jihadi modules in the state.
Jalaluddin Seikh, who was given bail by the court one month ago, was trying to set up an ABT wing in the state and was communicating with his handlers in Bangladesh, police sources said. All four arrested jihadis were taken to the Guwahati office of the investigation agency. They will be produced in the NIA court today, and the agency will seek their custody. Notably, the NIA sources said the arrested Jihadis revealed explosive information on the re-activation of ABT terrorist modules in the state.
It should be mentioned that as many as 53 ‘jihadis’, including one from Bangladesh, have been arrested in Assam since March 2022. Another five terrorists from Bangladesh are on the run and recruiting Muslim youth in ABT by influencing them in various mosques and madrasas.
A total of 114 “jihadis” have been arrested from different parts of Assam in the last ten years, including 53 in 2021-22. Out of the 114 “Jihadis”, 65 were members of the banned terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and nine were from Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).
The list also includes 40 cadres of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) who have been arrested since March 2022.
