GUWAHATI, Dec. 30: The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police arrested 11 people across Assam and Tripura following intelligence-led inputs targeting alleged links with a module of a Bangladesh-based terror outfit.
Addressing mediapersons here on Tuesday, Guwahati police commissioner Parthasarathi Mahanta said the Special Task Force acted on inputs shared by central intelligence agencies and arrested 10 individuals from Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang and Darrang districts in Assam, while another was arrested from Tripura’s West Tripura district.
Mahanta said according to the central agencies, the arrested persons had links with Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a Bangladesh-based offshoot of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The arrests were made during coordinated raids carried out on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
“The group members were operating under instructions from handlers based in Bangladesh and their main aim was to destabilise Assam and the rest of the Northeast,” Mahanta said.
According to reports, following the regime change in Bangladesh in August 2024, senior leaders of the JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) reportedly issued directives to the IMK leadership to activate and expand its Indian modules
“The IMK was founded in 2018 in Bangladesh by Jewel Mahmud, a former JMB member. Post change of regime in Bangladesh, the module has attempted to expand its activities,” Mahanta said.
The police commissioner informed that persons based in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura were being radicalised, recruited, financially mobilised and connected with the outfit.
Police said further investigation is underway to trace additional links, funding channels and possible sleeper modules.
