GUWAHATI: Eleven people were arrested in Assam and Tripura for their alleged links with "Bangladesh-based fundamentalist groups" that are aiming to "destabilise the Northeast," police said on Tuesday.
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. We have arrested a total of 11 jihadi elements, who were working under direct orders from Bangladesh-based groups," he said.
Those arrested were members of the Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK) module, he claimed.
"Ten of them were apprehended from Assam, and one from Tripura. Their main aim was to destabilise Assam and the rest of the Northeast. They wanted to establish 'Muslim supremacy' in this part of the country," he claimed.
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.
He said the IMK is a Bangladesh-based offshoot of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), which is banned in India.
"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.
"It has been reliably learnt that following the regime change in Bangladesh in August 2024, 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," the police commissioner 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 activities are coordinated through a secure social media platform. One such group is titled 'Purva Akash', which 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 outfit," he said.
Mahanta claimed that among the people targeted were individuals possessing Indian passports who had visited Bangladesh, as well as known former members of proscribed groups.
"The cumulative effect of IMK's activities poses a grave threat to India's unity and integrity. The IMK maintains active cross-border linkages with its Bangladesh-based patrons. Following the ouster of the Hasina government in 2024, the Aamir of IMK was released from custody," he said.