"Credible intelligence on ISIS leaders' movement led to arrest" says Assam IGP (STF)
Mar 21, 2024
Guwahati (Assam) [India], March 21 : IGP (STF) Assam, Partha Sarathi Mahanta, said on Thursday that the Assam police had taken action against ISIS top run based on credible intelligence received fifteen days ago.
Addressing a press conference at Assam police headquarters in Guwahati following the arrest of two top-rung leaders of ISIS in India by the Special Task Force, IGP Mahanta said, "15 days ago we received intelligence from the central agency that there could be movements of ISIS leaders in certain parts of the Dhubri Sector. This was credible information, which prompted a special task force to take action."
"We deployed our men to the probable areas of movement, and by the 18th we could narrow down our focus, and by the 19th we received specific information about the likely movement," he said.
Sharing further details of the operation, IGP Mahanta said, "Therefore, I took an STF team along with an additional SP and we went to the general area of Dharmasala in Dhubri....On the 18th morning, we found two men, who were apparently looking for transport to move to their destination. We had photographs of the top-level leaders of ISIS with us, and two of the photographs matched with these two men..."
Earlier IG Mahanta further said that the identity of both of them was ascertained and it is found that accused Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi S/o Ajmal Farooqi of Chakrata, Dehradun is the head of ISIS in India and his associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan S/o Manbir Singh of Diwana, Panipat got converted to Islam and his wife is a Bangladeshi national.
The special operation was carried out by the STF team led by IGP Mahanta and Kalyan Kumar Pathak, Additional Superintendent of Police (STF).
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted on Thursday that they will "eradicate" terrorism from the nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Reacting to a tweet from the Assam police, CM Biswa said, "We shall continue our fight against the fundamentalist and eradicate terrorism from the soil of our nation under the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi. Thank you, @assampolice".
The arrest of Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi and his associate Rehan are seen as a critical blow to the ISIS operation in India.
