Police in the Indian state of Assam have arrested a 22-year-old youth after busting the alleged sleeper cell module of Ansar al-Islam, a banned militant outfit of Bangladesh.
Abbas Ali’s arrest took place during a raid at Goalpara district’s Pakhiura village on Wednesday, according to the EastMojo media outlet.
He was allegedly providing shelter to a member of the Bangladesh-based banned outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which has links to al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Police have so far arrested at least 16 people from different parts of Assam for their links with the ABT. The National Investigation Agency of India is also probing into the activities of a module of the ABT.
Bongaigaon Additional Superintendent of Police Luna Sonowal said that, while probing a case, they came across the name of Ali for providing shelter to an absconding Bangladeshi national Mehbabur Rahman, who is a key member of the ABT.
Ali, she claimed, used to provide SIM, logistic support, and shelter to Rahman whenever he visited Goalpara.
“We are interrogating Ali to find out if he is linked to any more members of the ABT and will arrest him if reveals the name of anybody found to be linked to the outfit,” Sonowal said.
“Rahman used to come to Goalpara to radicalise youths. He also imparted training in psychological warfare, made them read religious documents besides providing physical exercise to shape up the youths and prepare them as sleeper cells of the fundamentalist group,” she added.
