Assam Police nabs key operative of terrorist outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team in Chennai

Guwahati, Feb 13 (PTI) Assam’s Special Task Force (STF), in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu police, has arrested a key operative of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JAM) in Chennai, officials said.

STF Inspector General Parthasarathi Mahanta told reporters here on Thursday that under the ongoing ‘Operation PRAGHAT’, targeting fundamentalist networks and Global Terrorist Organisations (GTO) nationwide, the Assam STFs apprehended the person from a place falling within Semmencherry police station limits in Chennai. The operation was led by STF DSP Satyendra Singh Hazari.

”Guided by intelligence inputs and reinforced by technical support, STF Assam with the active collaboration of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu police launched an operation in the early hours of February 12 and arrested the operative,” Mahanta said.

The arrested person has been identified as Abu Salam Ali, hailing from Khudigaon Part-II, under Bilasipara police station in Dhubri district.

Mahanta alleged that the person had close ties with previously apprehended operatives from Kokrajhar and Dhubri, who were taken into custody by STF Assam for their involvement in the same extremist case”.

Ali was on the run since December 17, 2024. ”He played a crucial role in the conspiracy, working in close coordination with the two arrested operatives, Nur Islam Mandal and Shahinur Islam, aimed at strengthening extremist factions”, Mahanta said. They were arrested along with a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Namapara area of Kokrajhar district on December 25.

Ali was allegedly a co-conspirator of Mandal and Islam in acquiring weapons and manufacturing IEDs intended to arm extremist organisations, the official said, adding that he was booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), read with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Passport Act, Explosives Act, Arms Act and Foreigners’ Act.

On December 17-18, Assam Police arrested eight fundamentalists, including one Bangladeshi, in coordinated inter-state operations and busted an attempt to set up ‘sleeper cells’ to carry subversive activities across the country.