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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested six persons from Assam for their alleged involvement in jihadi activities and suspected links with Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a radical group believed to be an offshoot of the Bangladesh-based Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The arrests are part of an intensified crackdown on suspected extremist networks operating in lower Assam, particularly in Barpeta district, which has remained under the watch of security agencies in recent years.
Those arrested have been identified as Mustafizur Rahman of Azad Nagar under Barpeta Road Police Station, Yakub Ali of Nisuka village, Rakibul Islam of Joshi Hatipara under Howli Police Station, and Zakir Hussain, Sanbar Ali and Faruk Abdulla of Bogoriguri Pathar under Sorbhog Police Station.
NIA teams simultaneously conducted searches at the residences of the accused as part of the agency’s ongoing investigation into alleged radicalisation activities and suspected cross-border links associated with the IMK network.
According to investigators, all six had previously been arrested in connection with the case and were later released on bail. The latest action follows fresh leads and expanded investigations into the activities of the alleged network.
Among those arrested, Mustafizur Rahman, who runs a garment shop opposite the Jama Masjid in Barpeta Road, was first arrested by the Assam Police Special Task Force (STF) on March 14 this year. During searches conducted at the time, officials reportedly seized a laptop, mobile phones and other electronic devices.
On Tuesday, NIA officials again searched Rahman’s residence in Azad Nagar and seized his mobile phone. The operation came nearly two months after his release from Guwahati Central Jail on bail.
The fresh arrests follow coordinated NIA searches conducted on Monday at 16 locations across Assam, West Bengal and Kerala as part of a probe into an alleged cross-border terror conspiracy linked to radicalisation activities in Assam.
The agency is investigating the nature of the suspects’ activities, their communication networks and any possible links with operatives based outside India.
The case stems from an alleged conspiracy involving IMK, which investigators describe as a manifestation of JMB established to spread the outfit’s extremist ideology in Assam, Tripura, West Bengal and other parts of Northeast India.
Notably, in June this year, the NIA filed a chargesheet against 11 accused before the NIA Special Court in Guwahati under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
According to the NIA, its investigation revealed that senior JMB member Imam Mahmud Habibullah had established IMK to promote the banned outfit’s agenda in India. The agency alleged that the accused were involved in efforts to radicalise vulnerable youths, expand the organisation’s network and disseminate extremist ideology through secret meetings, religious indoctrination programmes, circulation of radical literature and digital propaganda.
Among the key accused named in the chargesheet were Nasimuddin, alleged to have led IMK activities in Assam, and Jagir Mia, who was allegedly responsible for the outfit’s operations in Tripura.
Investigators have also claimed to have recovered incriminating documents, electronic devices and digital records that form a crucial part of the evidence in the case.
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