Assam DGP meets various Islamic organizations, seeks cooperation in busting terror modules

Amid multiple arrests of individuals in Assam on alleged links with terrorist groups Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), the Director General of Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta on Sunday met various Islamic organizations across the state and sought their support and cooperation in busting such terror modules.

“Today, we met with the Islamic organizations across the state. Without their cooperation, we couldn’t bust Al-Qaeda and ABT modules in the state. We urged them to extend their support, and cooperation and they also assured us of their support,” Mahanta told ANI.

There were reports that some militants disguised as religious teachers had sneaked into the state and silently gone ahead with their subversive and anti-state activities.

On basis of that, the state police have arrested 38 persons linked with AQIS/ABT.

The latest arrest was on Wednesday night when a person named Ajmal Hussain linked with Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) was nabbed from the state’s capital city Guwahati.

Meanwhile, authorities in Assam demolished three madrassas in three different districts after allegations that their premises were being used for terror activities, besides finding them structurally vulnerable and unsafe for human habitation.

Earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that some madrassa managements were not running the institution but were running a “terrorist hub”.

“I don’t want to generalise, but we investigate and take appropriate action when a complaint of fundamentalism comes,” Sarma had said.

At a recent press conference, Sarma said that six Bangladeshi nationals who are members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) / Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), entered Assam in 2016-17. The state police had managed to arrest one among them and five were still absconding.

For better surveillance, Assam Chief Minister reiterated that Islamic teachers coming into the state will be closely monitored and moreover the state was developing a portal where their details will be captured.

“We have laid down standard operating procedures. Locals must inform police if any religious teacher (Imam) coming outside of the state and are not known to them,” Sarma told reporters.

“Police will verify the person and then he can carry out his religious teaching in the Madrassas,” he said, adding that Muslims of Assam have been cooperating with the government in this process.

Assam currently doesn’t have any government-run madrassas as they have recently been converted into regular schools.

However, individual or privately-run madrassas continue to exist.