Assam Director-General of Police Khagen Sarma on Wednesday said that Assam Police are now scanning some NGOs in the State for their probable links with Islamic terror networks operating across the State to spread jehadi ideology.
The top cop’s statement came at a time when Assam Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have been carrying out search operations across the State to track down one of the fugitives in the Burdwan blast case, Shahnur Alom.
The NIA had earlier announced a cash award of Rs5 lakh on Alom, who is also a key operative of Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Assam.
“Investigations are on to unearth the jehadi network in the State. We have got some links in the case and we are working on it,” said the DGP while adding that the police have put under the scanner some NGOs operating in the State for their probable links with jehadi networks.
“The jehadi networks can take help of the madrasas, organisations and NGOs. We are scanning some NGOs to find out whether they received any unaccounted or accounted donations from unauthorised individuals in the past,” Sarma said.
“The Assam Police is working in association with the NIA over the jehadi cases,” he said. Asked about any specific threat from the jehadis to Assam, the top cop however, said that there are threats but the Assam Police is alert and prepared for it. “There have been threats to Assam in the past and at present as well, but we are prepared for it,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that the NIA team, which is probing the Burdwan blast case, had recently visited Chatala Village in Assam’s Barpeta district and raided the homes of some of the main accused in the Burdwan blast, Alom and some others. While Alom is still absconding, his wife Sujina Begum, who was also on the NIA’s wanted list, had been arrested recently by a joint team of police and CRPF from Guwahati.
“We have received some leads regarding Shahnur Alom and we have intensified our operations. We hope to catch him soon,” he said while refusing to comment whether Alom was still in Assam or had escaped to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, another NIA team on Wednesday visited Dhubri district in Assam and met the District Superintendent of Police. The Dhubri district in Assam shares a long border with Bangladesh and some of the areas are still porous. The district is also one of the five districts in Assam, where the growth of the Muslim population was over the normal decadal growth.