Four held for terror links in Assam, says CM Sarma

The Assam police have arrested four people with alleged links to Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is affiliated to the Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.

Chief minister Sarma took to Twitter to announce the arrests of Sadek Ali and Jakibul Ali in Tamulpur district and Habel Ali and Abu Raihan in Nalbari district.

“We are determined to root out jihadi elements from Assam,” Sarma wrote, mentioning that both Sadek and Jakibul had lured youth to join ABT.

“Arrest of Sadek Ali is a significant achievement since he has been radicalising youth including Jakibul Ali for past 2 years. He was also associated with JMB (Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) and neo-JMB,” Sarma tweeted.

According to a press release by Assam Police, based on specific information about their involvement in jehadi activities, Habel Ali and Abu Raihan were arrested by Nalbari police from their houses on Sunday. Both were produced in court on Monday and remanded to police custody for 10 days.

Similarly, Tampulpur police arrested Sadek Ali was arrested from Dongar Gaon Anchalik Madrasa and Jakibul Ali for allegedly indoctrinating youths to join ABT.

Since April, the state government has arrested at least 40 people, including a Bangladeshi national, for alleged links to ABT on charges of indoctrinating youth and creating sleeper cells of the terror outfit.

Last month, Sarma had informed the assembly that 84 people have been arrested in the state since May 2016 — when the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government was formed in the state — for alleged jihadi activities.

According to Sarma, 35 of those arrested were from JMB, 9 from Hijbul Mujahideen (HM) and 40 others from ABT.

The CM further said that 10 of the 84 arrested, including Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Mohammed Suman, were connected to madrasas.

“These people used to deliver speeches in madrasas and mosques with jihadi links and in religious gatherings where they incited people to take part in jihad and distribute jihadi literature. Till date, no one has been injured or killed in Assam due to jihadi activities,” Sarma had said in the assembly while replying to a question.