Assam: Madarasa teachers among 17 held for terror links

Guwahati/Morigaon, July 28 (IANS) As many as 17 persons, including six madarsa teachers, were held in Assam on Thursday for allegedly having links with terror groups.

According to the police, it has arrested a madarsa teacher and detained five others from another madarsa in Morigaon district. Similarly, seven persons from Barpeta, one from Guwahati, and another three persons were detained from the state's capital on Thursday.

All of them are suspected to have links with terror outfits like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

In Saharai village of the Moirabari area of Morigaon, police nabbed Mufti Mustafa Ahmed who runs Jamiut-ul-Huda Madrassa. Police received specific complaint about some suspicious activities going on within the madrasa premise, which is located adjacent to the house of Mustafa.

Police have seized a few mobile phones, bank passbooks and other 'objectionable' materials from his possession. Mustafa was suspected to be operating terror modules from his madrasa.

Morigaon Superintendent of Police (SP) Aparna N. told IANS that after interrogating Mustafa, police produced him before the court on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the police have detained five teachers from another madrasa, meant for girls, in Saruchala area of the district. SP Aparna said: "Their interrogation is going on, we have not arrested them so far."

More details can be divulged only after further investigation, she added.

It has been learnt that the two madrasas were situated in interior areas of the district.

Reacting over the development, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "The government-run madrasas have already been shut down in the state. These are two religious madrasas. We have already sealed one and the district administration was instructed to shift the children from there to a nearby school."

Assam Special DGP (Law and order) G.P. Singh said that in the last 48 hours a total of 11 persons were arrested in the state for allegedly having links with terror groups. The police have been running a surveillance operation to bust the terror racket in the state.

The state DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that AQIS has shown signs of expanding its base in northeast India. Recently, al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri issued an appeal to his groups to intrude in Assam, stated the Assam top cop.

He added: "Their quarterly magazine is now published in Bengali, with an aim to radicalise youths from Assam which may be very dangerous."