The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), considered to be one of the most dangerous terror organisations is currently having a free run thanks to the ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh.
In the wake of several of its operatives being released in Bangladesh, the outfit is on overdrive mode to recruit, train and attack. The Indian Intelligence agencies have now sounded off a high alert regarding the ABT training both Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims with an intention of carrying out attacks in West Bengal and the neighbouring states.
Warning by the intelligence bureau officials
The ABT has always focused on West Bengal and Assam. It has used illegal immigrants to further its agenda. However, with the radar on these illegal immigrants high, it has decided to train a new set of people and then send them to West Bengal and Assam.
An Intelligence Bureau official told the Organiser that the intercepts that they have picked up point towards the ABT training a very large number of Muslim youths with the intention of sending them to West Bengal. The official, however, noted that the ABT would, this time around, concentrate more on Assam rather than West Bengal as it wants to disrupt peace in the northeast.
For the security agencies, this would be nothing short of a nightmare. The situation in Manipur is still fragile. If the ABT manages to infiltrate into Assam, the agencies would have to tackle security-related issues on multiple fronts.
The recent arrests that have been carried out by the security agencies in both West Bengal and Assam clearly point towards the activities of the ABT in the region. On December 29, a team of the Assam Police arrested one Gaza Rahman, who is an operative of the ABT. Hailing from the Kokrajhar district of Assam, he was indulging in anti-national and terror-related acts at the behest of the ABT.
On December 30, the West Bengal STF arrested two operatives of the ABT from Nowda in Murshidabad district.
During these operations carried out by the state police on the basis of Intelligence inputs, scores of sleeper cells have been identified, and the agencies say that potential terror attacks had been prevented. The arrested persons revealed during their interrogation that they were told to encourage local Muslims to take up arms. They were also in the process of recruiting them into the ABT. The intention of the ABT was to strike at the Chicken Neck or Siliguri Corridor, which is the gateway to the northeastern states. Any attack here would have been devastating, officials say.
Radicals have a free run in Bangladesh
The Muhammad Yunus government has failed miserably in controlling these radical elements. He has instead backed them and let their Islamist agenda have a free run.
On December 24, an ABT operative, AL Amin, was released from the Kashipur Central Jail. Harun-ur-Rashid, also of the ABT, was released the same day from a jail at Chapai Nawabganj. Prior to this, Iqbal Hossain, of the same outfit, was released from prison. The killer of blogger Wasikur Rahman Babu, Jikrullah was also released from jail. Ironically, when he was released, it was not the security forces, but the armed operatives of the ABT who escorted him out of jail.
However, the release that had eyeballs rolling was that of ABT chief Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani. He had incited the murder of blogger Ahmed Raja Haider through sermons. Despite there being four cases against him, he was released on the pretext that the court had no objection to it.
Soon after his release, he threatened Bharat. He further called for support from Pakistan and Afghanistan to declare Jammu and Kashmir as independent. He also threatened Bharat and said that if there is any misadventure in Bangladesh, then the 18 crore Muslims would urge China to attack and close the Chicken’s Neck. He further called on Muslims and Khalistan Sikhs to help declare West Bengal, Punjab and the northeastern states as independent.
Though the ABT remains banned, its activities tell a different story in Bangladesh. The soft stance of the Yunus government is a clear sign that he is playing the game that the Islamists want him to play.
The ABT shot to prominence in 2010 when it carried out murders of bloggers and those it thought were opposed to Islam. Under Sheikh Hasina their activities were largely under control. However, under Yunus, they are free to do what they like.
The ABT has a strong social networking cell. Through this, the ABT puts out propaganda material and calls for the killings of atheists, liberals, Hindus and bloggers who oppose the radical form of Islam.
The Indian agencies say that this is the outfit that one needs to watch out for. Currently, it has a safe haven in Bangladesh, and this they would use to their advantage to target the states in Bharat, security agencies also warn.
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