GUWAHATI: Alarmed at the arrest of as many as seven Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) operatives within a span of one week Assam police is mulling to establish a high-tech special cell to combat and defeat the designs of fundamentalist terror outfits.
These arrested were in made following the arrest of HuM operative Karam-uz-Zaman who was arrested in Kanpur on September 13 by Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police. Arrest of Kamar who hails from Assam, led to discovery of HuM sleeper network of operatives in Assam.
Assam’s Director General of Police, Kuladhar Saikia said, “The arrest of HuM operative Kamar-uz-Zaman from Kanpur, who hails from Assam, was a combined effort of several agencies. We have made seven arrests here following Kamar’s arrest. Interrogation of those arrested is going on and enquiry is progressing in the right direction.”
On taking Kamar into Assam Police’s custody, he said, “The team of Assam Police that had gone to Kanpur has returned. We will work on their feedback.”
Besides the arrests of HuM operatives, Assam police were also working on a support system to fight and defeat terrorist activities, like engaging actively through social media to reach out to the public and improving technical capabilities, the DGP said.
Saikia lauded the strong social fabric in the state for not allowing fundamentalist elements to gain foothold as much as they tried for.
Additional DG (Special Branch) Pallab Bhattacharyya, informed that plans were afoot to form special cells to combat the fundamentalist threat.
When pointed out the failure of Assam Police to nab Kamar during his visit to his home in the state in August, he said the police could not reveal the details of its functioning at times.
He said, “These (terrorist) organisations operate surreptitiously and in a clandestine manner. The police also have to act likewise to defeat their design.”