Jihadi with links to Ansarul Islam arrested in Assam

An alleged jihadi with links to Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarul Islam was arrested from Assam's Morigaon district where he manages a madrasa, police said on Thursday. Acting on specific information, the police raided the madrasa at Sohoria village under Moirabari police station on Wednesday and arrested Mustafa, Morigaon superintendent of police Aparna Natarjan told the media here.

Mustafa was allegedly involved in various financial transactions and anti-national activities of the terror outfit, she said.

He had several financial transactions in 2019 with Amiruddin Ansari and Mamun Rashid, two militants of Ansarul Islam, which is affiliated to the Al-Qaeda in Indian subcontinent, she said.

Ansari was arrested in Kolkata and Rashid in Barpeta in Assam a few months ago.'' Mustafa's bank accounts have been seized and are being analyzed, Natarajan said.

During investigations, it came to light that he had given shelter to a 'wanted person' of a foreign country in the madrasa and a case has been registered at Moirabari police station under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that the madrasa is a private one and has been closed. All government madrasas are closed in Assam.

Sarma said that he has directed the Morigaon deputy commissioner to ensure that the students of the madrasa are admitted in regular government schools.

The Chief Minister said that there are reports of Ansarul Islam militants being active in the state and efforts are on to nab them. Ansarul Islam was earlier called the Ansarul Bangla Team. Five alleged members of the outfit were first arrested from Barpeta in March this year and since then nearly 20 persons have been nabbed so far.

Acting Director General of police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta had then said that Ansarul Islam was involved in the killing of bloggers, artists, poets and those who did not follow radical fundamentalism or had an independent train of thoughts.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)