Guwahati, Feb 13 The Assam Police's Special Task Force (STF), as part of its operation 'Praghat', has arrested one more associate of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based terror group affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), from Chennai, officials said on Thursday.
With the latest arrest, the STF so far arrested 16 associates of the ABT from Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
An Assam police spokesman said that the STF, Assam, with the active collaboration of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu Police, launched a swift and meticulously planned operation in the early hours of Wednesday and successfully captured a key operative, Abu Salam Ali.
He was apprehended in Chennai, under Semmencherry Police Station, marking yet another decisive strike against anti-national networks, he said. The detainee hails from Bilasipara in western Assam's Dhubri district, which shares international borders with Bangladesh and inter-state borders with West Bengal.
The arrested individual has been identified as an active member of the ABT and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, with close ties to previously apprehended operatives from Kokrajhar and Dhubri, who were taken into custody by STF Assam for their involvement in the same extremist case.
According to the spokesman, since December 17 last year 2024, Salam Ali had been on the run, relentlessly evading law enforcement in a bid to escape justice.
"Investigations have uncovered that the arrested operative played a crucial role in the conspiracy, working in close coordination with Nur Islam Mandal and Shahinur Islam aimed at strengthening extremist factions. Their intent was unmistakable to undermine national security, disturb peace, and endanger India’s sovereignty. This arrest represents yet another significant stride in breaking the network of radical elements determined to spread unrest and threaten the nation’s integrity," he said.
According to the STF sources, the 16 detainees, including Bangladeshi nationals, were working under the direction of Md Farhan Israk, a close associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, the Chief of ABT.
"The ABT sent one Bangladeshi national Md Sad Radi alias Md Shab Sheikh (32) a resident of Rajshahi, Bangladesh, to India to spread their nefarious ideology amongst like-minded people in the country," the sources said.
He was apprehended from Kerala in December last year. "As evidence suggests, their activities were organised with the intent to equip and promote their operational capabilities of extremist groups aiming to destabilise the country's security and sovereignty," the sources added.
"The investigation has been going on to unearth the whole nexus spreading across the country," the spokesman said.
He said that under the direction of STF Chief Partha Sarathi Mahanta, 'Operation Praghat' has been underway since November last year.
Top Assam Police officials earlier said the eight arrested persons were handlers in Pakistan and Bangladesh. They were working to form 'sleeper cells' in different parts of India and there were plans to assassinate leaders belonging to the Hindu community and RSS, besides undertaking violent and subversive activities in India, the officials had said.
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