Days after Assam police in collaboration with police in West Bengal and Kerala arrested eight jihadi terrorists, their interrogation revealed that they were attempting to cut off northeast India from the rest of the country at the Siliguri corridor. The eight persons associated with Bangladesh-based Jihadi terror group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) were arrested from Assam, West Bengal and Kerala under ‘Operation Praghat’ led by a Special Task Force.
The arrested jihadis included a man from Bangladesh named Sad Radi alias Shab Seikh, arrested from Kerala, who was the mastermind of the ABT sleeper cell targeting the Siliguri corridor or the Chicken’s Neck, the narrow patch of land connecting north east India with the mainland. This was revealed by West Bengal STF on Saturday.
ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said, “They were planning terror activities in the Chicken’s Neck, Siliguri corridor. A person called Farhan was the head of the sleeper cell.” He added that the arrested persons were setting up sleeper cells in West Bengal by recruiting locals. They were mainly recruiting from two places – Murshidabad and Alipurduar, he said.
Police recovered a 16 GB pen drive, 4 mobile phones and other suspicious documents from the arrested persons.
As per police, the terror module was also trying to target members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu organisations. The module was working under the directive of one Md Farhan Israk, a close associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, Chief of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. Notably, ABT is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent, and several of their operatives have been arrested in Assam in recent months.
ABT chief Jasimuddin Rahmani was released from prison by the interim govt in Bangladesh after the fall of Sheikh Hasina govt, and after that the activities of the jihadi terror group have accelerated. As per reports, Sad Radi entered India on his instructions to recruit cadres for the operation.
The group was trying to identify youths to recruit using communal fissures and economic disparities. Jasimuddin Rahmani had sent Sad Radi from Rajshahi in Bangladesh drive to India for the recruitment, and Farhan Israk was overseeing the operations from Bangladesh. Reportedly he entered India in November through Murshidabad. Radi visited West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala during his recruitment drive, said police.
Talking about the operation that busted the terror module, Gaurav Sharma, IG STF, West Bengal, said, “There was an input and a well-coordinated joint operation in which Assam police needed our support. ABT were trying to set up sleeper cells in the country. They were recruiting youths in the country.”
While Bangladeshi national Sad Radi was arrested in Kerala, the rest were arrested in Assam and West Bengal. They have been identified as Minarul Sheikh, Md. Abbas Ali, Nur Islam Mandal, Abdul Karim Mandal, Mojibar Rahman, Hamidul Islam, and Enamul Hoque.
Assam STF chief Dr Partha Sarathi Mahanta said that the investigation is on and the whole network is being dismantled. “Operation Praghat highlights the effort of STF in the context of cross-border terrorism and maintaining regional stability,” he said.
Notably, a Guwahati court has granted police custody of the 8 arrested persons for 10 days.
