Ranchi: In a significant development, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) unit of Jharkhand police has detained seven operatives/members of the sleeper cell of Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) following a series of raids at over a dozen places in separate districts.
A separate team of ATS raided a total of 14 locations in multiple districts including Lohardaga, Latehar, Hazaribagh and Ranchi on Thursday morning, August 22 and detained seven individuals suspected to be associated with the terror outfit, suggest reports.
Raids were conducted at Hinjala of Lohardga, Pelawal in Hazaribagh, Chanho, Itaki of Ranchi leading to detention of seven operatives allegedly involved in furthering the footprints of the AQIS. All the detained individuals are currently being interrogated by the security agencies. The ATS team during the raids have also seized weapons and other evidences which are being verified.
According to the inputs received, the operation was carried out after receiving a tip-off about presence of sleeper cell agents in the aforementioned areas. Multiple locations linked to the AIQS module in other states such as in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were also raided by the security agency.
Conspiracy to craft an Islamic State
Founded in 2014, AQIS aimed to establish an Islamic state in India along implementing Sharia law by radicalising youths and motivating them for take up arms for the cause of terror outfit. Those detained by the ATS team were also reported to be involved in furthering similar unlawful activities on behest of the group.
The terrorist group AQIS is reported to be working in close association with Ansar-ul-Bangla, a Bangladesh based terror outfit for crafting/establishing an Islamic state in the Indian Sub-continent.
Surprisingly, the development has arrived days after the Former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Babu Lal Marandi made sensational revelations linked to a ploy being hatched by radical groups in Bangladesh to craft a “Greater Bangladesh” which will include bordering regions of India along with current spread of Bangladesh.
In a post shared on social media platform X, the BJP leader while referring to a report had claimed that the fundamentalist after ousting Sheikh Hasina are conspiring to create a new “Banglastan” which will include parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Assam, and Meghalaya.
खुफिया एजेंसियों के मुताबिक, झारखंड के बड़े हिस्से(संथाल बहुल इलाके), बिहार का किशनगंज जिला, पश्चिम बंगाल, अधिकांश उत्तर पूर्वी राज्य, नेपाल और म्यांमार के कुछ हिस्से को मिलाकर ‘बांग्लास्तान’ नामक देश बनाने की साजिश चल रही है।
5 अगस्त को शेख हसीना सरकार की तख्तापलट के बाद… pic.twitter.com/4jTUK4kGPu
— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) August 14, 2024
The report cited by Marandi highlighted that the proposed State of Banglastan will include a large portion of Jharkhand (parts of Santhal), Kishanganj and Katihar of Bihar, Rakhine and Arakan regions of Mayanmar and parts of other north-eastern states along inclusion of Jhapa of Nepal.
Growing presence of sleeper cell of terror outfits
It must be noted that multiple districts of Jharkhand are suspected to have presence of sleeper cells associated with terror outfits a number of whom were also apprehended by the security agencies in the past few years.
Earlier security agencies had apprehended Faizan alias Faiz (19) an alleged operative of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from Lohardaga districts. Faizan was reported to be directly in touch with the foreign operatives of the terror entity.
The arrested individual was reported to be indulged in propagating the ISIS ideology through various social media platform alongside hatching a ploy to instigate violence. Later on the agencies nabbed a number of other operatives of the same module from separate parts of the country.
Further security agencies had also arrested Maulana Mohammd Karimuddin Mujahiri from Jamshedpur in the year 2019. He was reported to be in touch with other earlier arrested operatives of the Al-Qaeda.
