STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government came to power in Assam in 2016, 84 suspected jihadis have been arrested. This was revealed in the House in a written reply by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who holds the Home portfolio, to a question posed by Leader of the Opposition, Debabrata Saikia today.
The Chief Minister said that among the 84 suspected jihadis arrested, 35 belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), nine to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and 40 to Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). Around 10 of the arrested people had links with various madrassas of the State. These 10 people are Saiful Islam alias Harul Rashid alias Sumon (Bangladeshi citizen), Mamunur Rashid, Mustafa alias Mufti Mustafa, Abdus Subahan of Mornai in the Goalpara district, Jalaluddin Sheikh, Abdus Subahan of Govindapur Sala in the Goalpara district, Mufti Hafizur Rahman, Ajmal Hussain, Akbar Ali and Abdul Kalam Azad.
The Chief Minister stated that these 10 persons had visited various mosques and madrassas in the State and attended religious meetings where they had delivered speeches to inspire Muslim youths to join the jihadi movement. They had also distributed leaflets.
The jihadis used apps like OMEMO and Blebar to communicate among themselves. The three jihadi organizations JMB, HM and ABT have links with Bangladesh. The Chief Minister added that inquiry was on in the arrests made so far.
On the other hand, in a written reply to a query posed by BJP MLA Terash Gowalla, the Chief Minister informed that two women from Assam had been arrested for having jihadi links. They are Asmina Khatun of Morigaon and Johura Khatun of the Dhubri district.
After the arrest of her husband Mohd. Mustafa, Asmina Khatun had destroyed the mobile phone which contained documents related to jihadi activities. Johura Khatun's husband is a Bangladeshi citizen. She was in touch with jihadis and helped in jihadi activities.
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