Imam leads cops to Al Qaeda modules: ‘Madrassa Teachers as Terror Operatives’

Assam Police has uncovered several Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and al Qaeda modules and sleeper cells that use madrassa teachers as terror operatives. The ABT is a proscribed Islamic Jihadi organisation in Bangladesh. It is said to have made inroads in the north-eastern states of India along the Bangladesh border, particularly in Assam and Tripura.

THE QUESTIONS
On the basis of Ali’s leads, Goalpara police apprehended Abdus Subahan and Jalaluddin Sheikh, who acted as conduits for the ABT in Assam, on August 19. They were arrested after a day of interrogation. Subahan had been an imam and teacher at Tinkoniyapara madrassa for two years, while Sheikh was an imam at Maitya Tilapara mosque.

According to police, Subahan and Sheikh were providing logistical support to ABT and AQ, including shelter for recruits. They were organising sessions for ABT operatives from Bangladesh and managing funding for these events. Subahan later admitted that he joined al-Qaeda in 2018 and that Sheikh was his brother. A four-person Crime Investigation Department team is investigating further.

Abu Tallah, an ABT operative from Bangladesh, is on the run and his wife Johura Khatun has been arrested. Abu Tallah stayed in Goalpara as an imam of Abu Bakar Siddique Masjid in Morigaon. He also used to teach in Jamiul Huda Madrassa run by Mufti Mustafa, who was running a sleeper cell for the ABT.

A video of Abu Tallah, along with five other members of the ABT, sleeping on a bed perched on a luggage-carrying vehicle has been doing the rounds. This, sources say, means that they are trying to radicalise more people. Several others have been arrested from Morigaon, including the caretaker of Noor Mohamed mosque. The ABT is also using the Dark Web and Dark sites to get more recruits.

The whereabouts of the other five Bangladeshi nationals are still not known, said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The state is becoming a hotbed for Islamic fundamentalists, said Urban Development Minister Ashok Singhal. Union Home Minister has alerted the Director General of Police to be on alert on the rise of radicalisation in the border districts.