The Assam Police on Tuesday claimed that people have demolished a madrassa and a house adjacent to it in Goalpara district in protest against the alleged use of the institute's premises for 'jihadi' activities.
Local people accused two Bangladeshis, who are currently absconding, of using the premises of the madrassa located at Pakhiura Char under the Matia Police Station limits for 'jihadi' activities, Goalpara Superintendent of Police V V Rakesh Reddy told reporters.
"The local people have taken the initiative to demolish the madrassa.....The police and the district administration are not involved in it," the SP said.
AIUDF's Badruddin Ajmal said the state government should not bulldoze educational institutes.
Reacting to madrassas being razed to the ground by the state administration, he said, "It is not right to demolish educational institutes, be it a madrassa or any other educational or religious institute".
"If any 'jihadi' is found, the state must properly investigate the matter and take action as per the law of the land. If a court gives orders for demolition, then it is fine but any random exercise is not accepted," the MP said. A Congress spokesperson said the party is looking into the matter and will give a detailed response to the Goalpara incident only after talking to the local people.
The use of the madrassa premises in Goalpara for anti-national activity came to light following the arrest of Jalaluddin Sheikh, a cleric of the institute with his alleged links with the two Bangladeshis who are suspected members of terror outfits- Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT), the SP said.
According to the police, Sheikh had allegedly engaged the duo as teachers of the Darogar Alga Pakhiura Char Madrassa by "convincing the villagers that they are very knowledgeable and have come from West Bengal though they are Bangladeshis".
A local resident Shah Alam Sheikh told reporters that villagers did not know anything about 'jihadi' activities being carried out on the madrassa premises and were under the impression that the teachers had come to teach their children".