GUWAHATI: Assam Special Task Force (STF) arrested 11 people over alleged links with Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), an offshoot of the banned Bangladeshi terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Addressing a press conference, Guwahati's Police Commissioner Parthasarathi Mahanta said the Special Task Force (STF) made the arrest on the basis of intelligence inputs provided by central agencies.
"An operation was carried out last night in Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa and Darrang districts of Assam, along with Tripura," he said.
“These elements were working under the direct orders from Bangladesh-based groups. Their main aim was to destabilise Assam and the rest of the Northeast,” the STF chief said.
Mahanta further said the police teams have made a lot of seizures, sans any arms and ammunition, during the simultaneous raids.
Those arrested from Assam were identified as Nasim Uddin alias Najimuddin alias Tamim (24), Junab Ali (38), Afrahim Hussain (24), Mizanur Rehman (46), Sultan Mehmud (40), Md Siddique Ali (46), Rasidul Aalam (28), Mahibul Khan (25), Sharuk Hussain (22) and Md Dilbar Razak (26), he said.
Jagir Miah (33) was nabbed from Tripura, he added.
"The Indian security and intelligence apparatus has been keeping a hawk eye on jihadi activities in the Northeast, particularly in Assam," Mahanta said.
According to the STF, their activities are coordinated through social media platform. One such group ‘Purva Akash’ functions as a principal communication and recruitment platform.
“Persons based in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura were being radicalised, recruited, financially mobilised and connected with the said outfit, including individuals possessing Indian passports and having prior visits to Bangladesh, as well as known former members of proscribed terrorist organisations,” the STF said
The STF dossier said senior leaders of JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) issued directions to IMK leadership to activate and expand its Indian modules.
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year, cadres of JMB, ABT and AQIS were released or emboldened, resulting in the revival of their ideological influence and Indian networks, including through IMK-linked platforms, the STF said.
"IMK was founded in 2018 by ex-JMB member Jewel Mahmud alias Imam Mahmud Habibullah alias Sohail, who claims to be the Aamir of IMK and propagates the ideology of 'Ghazwatul Hind'," he said.
Mahanta said Bangladeshi nationals Umar and Khalid were assigned to coordinate with the Assam cell, the head of which was Tamim of Barpeta Road.
The IMK module employs a systematic process to radicalise and recruit followers. The Indian members are identified through online jihadist channels and fed with propaganda materials (books and lectures). They are made to take a pledge of allegiance to the group’s chief, and footage of oath is then forwarded to him for verification and acceptance.
“IMK also exploits social and religious gatherings,” the STF said. It mentioned that at a December 28, 2024 meeting in Barpeta, IMK ideologues, including Nasim Uddin and Manirul Islam, made statements advocating violent armed struggle in India.
The police registered a case under BNS sections along with relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act), 1967.
(With inputs from PTI)