Assam STF Arrests Another Terrorist from 'Ansarullah Bangla Team'

Guwahati, Jan 19 (NationPress) The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police has apprehended another notorious member of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a terror organization based in Bangladesh linked to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), officials reported on Sunday.

An Assam Police spokesperson stated that the STF, in a successful operation against extremist factions and Global Terrorist Organisations (GTO), captured the highly sought-after Jihadi/Islamic extremist Jaheer Ali from Dhubri, an Assam district that shares its borders with Bangladesh and West Bengal.

With the latest capture of Ali, the STF has now detained 13 members of the ABT.

“These 13 operatives, including a national from Bangladesh, were engaged in covert activities under the guidance of Md Farhan Israk, a close affiliate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, the head of ABT.

“They dispatched one Bangladeshi national, Md Sad Radi alias Shab Sheikh, a resident of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, to India to disseminate their malicious ideology among like-minded individuals across India,” the spokesperson elaborated.

Under the direction of STF Chief Partha Sarathi Mahanta, 'Operation Praghat' was executed.

The apprehended individuals were found in possession of arms, ammunition, explosives, and various incriminating documents and mobile phones.

On December 30 of last year, ABT operative and main suspect, Gazi Rahman (35), was captured with the help of Kokrajhar Police.

On December 27, ABT associate Shahinur Islam (36) was arrested from Bandhabpara in Dhubri District, while on December 24, the STF apprehended Abdul Zaher Sheikh and Sabbir Mirdha from Namapara in Kokrajhar district, recovering a substantial cache of arms and ammunition from one of the detainees’ hideouts.

As part of 'Operation Praghat', initiated during the night of December 17-18, eight ABT members were captured across Assam, West Bengal, and Kerala.

Among the eight, five were arrested in Kokrajhar and Dhubri districts of Assam, two in West Bengal, and one Bangladeshi national in Kerala. Of those apprehended, Bangladeshi national Muhammad Sad Radi alias Md Shab Sheikh (32), from Rajshahi, was detained in Kerala.

Following the questioning of the eight detainees, an additional four suspects were arrested from Dhubri and Kokrajhar, both bordering Bhutan and West Bengal.

“With these 13 arrests, the STF has achieved a significant victory in preventing a potential major terror incident by extremist/Jihadi factions of a Global Terrorist Organisation (GTO),” the spokesperson stated.

Assam Police Special Director General Harmeet Singh previously mentioned that the eight individuals arrested during the night of December 17-18 were handlers operating from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

They were working to establish 'sleeper cells' in various regions of India, with plans to assassinate leaders from the Hindu community and the RSS, alongside executing violent and subversive activities in India, Singh noted.

The Special DGP indicated that 'Operation Praghat' was initiated in November after a thorough examination of intelligence regarding the secretive anti-national operations conducted by a group under the guidance of Md Farhan Israk, a close associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, the ABT Chief.

The operation was carried out under the direct supervision of STF Chief Mahanta.

In December of last year, the Assam Police STF also arrested five members of the Pakistan-linked terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Kokrajhar and Dhubri.

Four members of JeM were apprehended in Kokrajhar district, while one linkman was arrested in Dhubri district, as reported by a police officer.