GUWAHATI: The Assam police bust some modules of the al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent and the Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla Team who were radicalizing the youth of the state from the shelter of some mosques and madrassas in recent months, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma disclosed on Thursday.
He appealed to the people, especially Muslims, to report to the police if they come across a stranger in their locality serving as the Imam of a mosque or teacher of a madrassa.
"We will verify his antecedents. We have to keep a close watch on the Imams and the madrassa teachers," he said.
Assam has already closed down 800 government-run madrassas. Sarma said discussions were on at various levels, including with stakeholders, on the 800 Quomi madrassas which are among 1,500 private madrassas functional in the state.
"However, the number of madrassas does not automatically signify the number of 'jihadis'. Our complaint is only against unknown teachers and Imams. They are using some madrassas as their shelter. We have to find out those madrassas," Sarma said.
He said the government had not found any direct links between the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the five modules busted by the police in some districts of central and lower Assam.
"There is a scientific progression. First, whip up the sentiment that the Muslims have been victimised by the state. The PFI has created the eco-system of pushing people to indoctrination," the Assam CM said.
The five modules busted were involved in radicalising people, Sarma said. The police had arrested a number of people, including three from Tripura and one from Bangladesh. Incriminating documents, including “jihadi literature”, were recovered, he added.
Stating that Assam has been for some time on the al Qaeda’s radar, he said the police found the involvement of six Bangladeshi nationals in radicalising the youth of Assam. One of them, Md Suman, was arrested while the others have gone into hiding. They all had entered Assam in 2016-17.
Mohammad Suman, who had entered Assam from West Bengal, married a local in Barpeta and settled down there. He was found working as the Imam of a mosque, Sarma said.
"We don’t know exactly how many Bangladeshi nationals entered Assam to indulge in such activities and how many from Assam went to Bangladesh. It is possible that there are various other modules active in Assam, which are led by Bangladeshi nationals but have not yet come under the glare of the police," Sarma said.
He said the communication mode of these Islamic fundamentalists was found to be highly-sophisticated.
"They installed some apps that we have not heard of. After coming to Assam, they will install these apps, talk and stop using them. That made it very difficult for us to track them," Sarma said.
Funds were sent to them online in small installments of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 so that nobody suspects them, he said.
"All Muslims are not fundamentalists. In fact, we managed to bust the modules and make the arrests based on inputs shared by some peace-loving Muslims," he added.