Five of al-Qaida's Bangladesh chapter held in Assam

GUWAHATI: Assam Police on Friday night nabbed five members of a Bangladesh-based radical Islamic group, Ansar al Islam, which is known to be Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), in different parts of Barpeta district.

One of the arrested, Saiful Islam alias Harun Rashid alias Mohammad Suman, is a Bangladeshi citizen and hails from Narayanganj district of the neighbouring country.

DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said Saiful Islam was working as a teacher at Dhakaliapara Masjid in Barpeta district.

"Saiful Islam, after entering India, has been indoctrinating youths belonging to a particular community in different parts of Assam towards jihadi and religious fundamentalism and has already spread its roots in the state," Mahanta added.

The other four are Khairul Islam (27), Badshah Suleiman Khan (28) and Noushad Ali (40) of Kalgachia and

Taimur Rahman Khan

(54) of Howly.

Assam Police, in a statement, said Saiful Islam had successfully indoctrinated and motivated these four to join the module of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), which is the earlier name of Ansar al Islam, with a view to develop Barpeta district as a base for jehadi work and unlawful activities of al-Qaida and its related organisation.

The DGP said police have recovered documents and several electronic devices including mobile, laptop, pen drives along with jehadi literature.

"The modus of operation of the organisation was found to be very sophisticated, which we have not come across in case of other militant groups in the past in the state. The use of computers for communication, including transfer of funds and how they prepared for jehad are modern and of high quality of technology," the DGP said.

"There were few other members of this module but they have managed to escape," Mahanta said and added that the NIA might take up this case to make a wider investigation across the country and outside.

Mahanta said the Special Branch of Assam Police was carrying out intelligence operations on this module since September last year.

The five were produced before the court on Saturday.

All of them have been remanded in police custody for further investigation.

He added that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will probably take over the investigation so that a detailed probe can be conducted both in the state and other parts of the country.

International agencies may also be involved in the investigation as there may be links to outfits in other countries, besides Bangladesh, he said.

Earlier in 2019, Barpeta Police had arrested four trained cadres of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Barpeta district.