Guwahati: In its supplementary charge sheet filed in special NIA court on August 28, it has been mentioned that the two arrested members of Assam-based module of Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) affiliated Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) were conspiring to spread terror and violence in the country by instigating Muslim youth in the name of Jihad.
The supplementary charge sheet filed by NIA against Akbar Ali and Abul Kalam Azad who were arrested on April 5 charged them with anti national activities. The Assam police in the last two years has busted 6 modules of ABT which is affiliated to AQIS based in neighbouring Bangladesh. The Barpeta model of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) busted in April this year was led by Bangladeshi terrorist Saiful Islam. He was operating under the cover of an Arabic teacher at ‘Shaikhul Hind Mahmadul Hasan Jamiul Huda Islamic Academy’ and was also an Imam at the Dhakaliapara Masjid in Barpeta. Later the Masjid was demolished by Assam police for its involvement in anti national and jihadi activities.
The NIA sources said that various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have been invoked against Akbar Ali and Abul Kalam Azad in its supplementary charge sheet. The central agency had filed the first charge sheet against eight other accused of the group in August last year. Out of the eight accused, against whom the charge sheet was filed, six hail from Barpeta district in Assam and one from Tripura. The main mastermind of the network Saiful Islam alias Mohammed Harun alias Mohammed Suman is a Bangladeshi national.
“The two accused had conspired with the other accused to instigate and promote terrorist activities as part of an active terror module of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is affiliated to the proscribed terrorist organisation, Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS),” an NIA statement reads. NIA further stated that the two accused were engaged in strengthening Al-Qaeda and ABT and grooming the youth to commit terror acts in the country. In its investigation, the national investigation agency found that the accused were involved in organising meetings for expanding the activities of AQIS to various religious places across Assam.
NIA statement further stated that radicalisation and mobilisation of Muslim youth was being done under the active guidance of the Bangladeshi handlers, namely Zakir alias Mehdi Hassan alias Aminul Islam, Mehboor Rahman alias Mehboob Alam alias Sultan. The Bangladeshi terrorists were operating as the mentors of the Assam modules of ABT. It should be mentioned that Assam government handed over the Islamic terrorist module cases to NIA in March 2022 for further investigation.
In the supplementary charge sheet NIA mentioned that most of the arrested Jihadi members in Assam including few Bangladeshi nationals were actively engaged in indoctrination and radicalisation of Muslims to join jihadi outfits to work in modules for building a base for Al-Qaeda and its various Affiliated groups in India”.
It should be mentioned that as many as 57 ‘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 118 “jihadis” have been arrested from different parts of Assam in the last ten years, including 57 in 2021-23. Out of the 118 “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 57 cadres of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) who have been arrested since March 2022.
