State police keeping tab on ‘jihadi’ activities in Assam: DGP

SHILLONG, Sep 1: Meghalaya Police has sounded an alert, particularly in areas bordering Bangladesh, after receiving inputs of jihadi activities in neighbouring Assam.
“After receiving the inputs of jihadi activities in Assam we have alerted all the districts police stations and outpost particularly in those areas having borders with Bangladesh as we know Meghalaya shares a 433-km border with Bangladesh. We are alert and on the job,” Director-General of Police (DGP) Lajja Ram Bishnoi told reporters on Thursday.
Asked if reports were true that some sleeper cells have become active in Meghalaya, the DGP said, “So far no concrete information has come to our notice but we are keeping watch on the activities of these elements.”
In Assam more than 40 people with suspected ‘jihadi’ links to Bangladesh have been arrested since March this year and the crackdown continues.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently said that the state was becoming a “hotbed of jihadi activities” with about five modules having links with Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) busted in the last few months.
Taking serious note of the presence of Jihadi groups in Assam, the Hynniewtrep Youth Council (HYC) aired concerns with regard to the security of people in Meghalaya which shares its boundary with Assam and Bangladesh.