Assam Police STF Uncovers Jihadi Terror Network; Bangladeshi National Among Eight Detained
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Guwahati, Dec 19 (NationPress) The Assam Police Special Task Force (STF), with assistance from the Kerala and West Bengal Police, has successfully dismantled a jihadi terror module and detained eight extremists, including a Bangladeshi national, as reported by a senior police official on Thursday.
In a significant intelligence-led nationwide operation known as ‘Operation Praghat’, the STF arrested the Bangladeshi national Muhammad Sad Radi, also known as Md Shab Seikh (32), who hails from Rajshahi, Bangladesh, in Kerala.
Two additional suspects, Minarul Sheikh (40) and Md. Abbas Ali (33), both from Murshidabad, West Bengal, were apprehended in their home state.
The other five detainees -- Nur Islam Mandal (40), Abdul Karim Mandal (30), Mojibar Rahman (46), Hamidul Islam (34), and Enamul Hoque (29) -- were captured in Assam.
Enamul resides in Dhubri, while the remaining four are from Kokrajhar district in Assam.
Providing insights into the disruption of the fundamentalist/jihadi terror module, Assam Police Special DGP Harmeet Singh stated that the arrests occurred during the night of December 17-18.
He mentioned that the eight individuals are operatives connected to handlers in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and they were working to establish 'sleeper cells' in various regions of India, with plans to assassinate leaders from the Hindu community and RSS, in addition to engaging in violent and subversive activities within India.
The police revealed that all eight detainees have been transported to Guwahati, where a thorough investigation is ongoing to extract more information.
The Special DGP indicated that ‘Operation Praghat’ commenced in November following a meticulous and extended analysis of intelligence reports regarding secretive anti-national activities conducted by a group under the command of Md Farhan Israk, a close affiliate of Jasimuddin Rahmani.
According to police sources, Rahmani is the leader of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, a globally recognized terrorist organization.
This operation was executed under the direct oversight of STF Chief Partha Sarathi Mahanta.
Md Sad Radi traveled to Assam and West Bengal to connect with sleeper cell members of the banned ABT before proceeding to Kerala for similar activities.
Authorities confiscated mobile phones with various suspicious applications used for communication with their handlers located in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Additional items seized from them included religious texts with altered narratives, printed in Bangladesh, four USB drives containing incriminating materials, a Bangladeshi identification card, and various official certificates from Bangladesh.
Earlier this week, the Assam Police STF also apprehended five members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a terrorist organization linked to Pakistan, in Kokrajhar and Dhubri.
Four operatives associated with JeM were detained in Kokrajhar district, while one linkman was captured in Dhubri district, as confirmed by a police official.
