The Home Ministry has roped in the National Investigation Agency to unearth an Al-Qaeda module operating in Assam. According to inputs, there is presently a deep-rooted network of the Al-Qaeda in the Indian-Sub Continent – branch of the banned terror outfit – operating in different districts of the northeastern state. The module is believed to have links with Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team.
According to reports citing the FIR with the NIA, the module aims to “propagate terror in Indian territory, radicalize likeminded youth and carry out recruitment to wage war” and overthrow the Indian government. It also looks to “establish the ‘Rule of Khilafat’ (Sharia Law) in the country, wage war against Bangladesh, and “implement Ghazwa-e-Hind with the help of recruits of India”.
The Al-Qaeda as a whole seeks to wage jihad in order to establish an Islamic state.
The development comes mere days after Indian officials demolished two madrassas in the state for undertaking alleged ‘jihadi’ activities on their premises. Altogether 48 people – many of them teachers – have been arrested from across Assam since March this year for their alleged links with Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent and Ansarullah Bangla Team.
A madrassa in the Barpeta district was destroyed on August 29 with authorities contending that it was used as a training hub by the AQIS. Another in the Bongaigaon district was demolished on August 31. A week earlier, a teacher from the Bongaigaon madrassa was arrested on suspicion of links with AQIS.
Since January this year, five modules with alleged links to Bangladesh’s proscribed Ansarul Islam have been busted.
