The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against two alleged members of an al-Qaeda linked terrorist group’s module operating from Assam.
The two accused, identified as Mohammed Akbar Ali and Abul Kalam Azad, had conspired with some others to instigate and promote terrorist activities, as part of a module of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) which is affiliated to the proscribed terrorist organisation, al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS), said the agency on Tuesday.
Akbar Ali and Abul Kalam Azad were arrested on April 5, 2023, and have now been charged under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. In the same case, the agency had filed the first charge sheet against eight other accused in August last year.
‘Radicalisation of Muslims’
According to the NIA, investigations have revealed that the two accused were co-conspirators in organising meetings for expanding the activities of the AQIS to various religious places in the neighbouring districts of Assam. “The radicalisation and mobilisation of Muslims was being done under the active guidance of the module’s Bangladeshi handlers,” named Zakir and Mehboor Rahman.
The case was initially registered by the Assam police on March 4, 2022, and taken over by the NIA a few days later after the activities of the ABT module came to light. Provisions under the Passports Act and the Foreigners Act had also been invoked. The module, operating in Assam’s Barpeta, was led by a Bangladeshi national named Saiful Islam aka Haroon Rashid.
The agency found that Saiful Islam was “cleverly operating under the cover of an Arabic teacher at ‘Shaikhul Hind Mahmadul Hasan Jamiul Huda Islamic Academy (Dhakaliapara Madrasa)’ and as an Imam at the Dhakaliapara Masjid”. As alleged, he was engaged in the indoctrination and radicalisation of Muslims in order for them to join sleeper cells, for “building a base for the al-Qaeda and its various manifestations/outfits in India”.
The NIA has been making efforts to track down the Bangladeshi handlers of the module and other members.
