Ansarullah linkman arrested from Samaguri, Assam police raids continue

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 17, 2024

Three days after the arrest of two terrorists of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) from Guwahati Railway Station on May 13, the Special Operation Unit (SOU) of Assam Police arrested another linkman Matiur Rahman from  Kanuwamari, Samaguri in Nagaon district on Friday. 

The SoU arrested two ABT terrorists- Bahar Mia (30), son of Nabab Mia of Darkar village under Akaura police station in Brahmanbari district(Bangladesh) and Rasel Mia (40), son of Lt Jaser Ali of Mongalsidha village under Athpara PS in Netrokona district of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

They have been arrested in connection with SOU PS case number 1/2024 under section 120(B)/121/122/468/471 of IPC read with section section 10/13 UA(P) Act, section 12 of The Passport Entry To India Act, 1920 and section 14 of Foreigners Act,1946.

It is learnt that Matiur Rahman had made fake PAN cards, voter ID and Aadhaar cards in the name of an ABT terrorist Bahar Miya, who sneaked into Assam from Bangladesh.

Matiur Rahman was also earlier arrested by police for online fraud cases but was released at the end of 2023. Soon after release, he went to Gujarat, where he met Bahar and Rasel, who were running the garment trade there.

According to sources, Rasel and Bahar visited Guwahati to mobilize and radicalize the gullible Muslim youths of Assam and India to join the terror outfit and indulge in terror acts. 

In 2022, two terrorists, Bahar Mia and Rasel Mia, of Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT), a sister organization of Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), sneaked into India crossing the international border with Tripura.

The two terrorists were aiming to expand the network of the terror outfit in India to the rest of Asia. They entered Tripura and went to Nepal via India, sources said. 

The duo met Khalil Mia, one of the leaders of the AQIS in Nepal.

Under the leadership of Khalil Mia, Bahar and Rasel blueprinted how to expand their network in India. After entering Nepal, Khalil Mia employed them as labourers in a sweater manufacturing company in Nepal to protect them from security forces.

After eight months three of them reached in Bengaluru and started working in a garment factory. Khalil Miya arranged a PAN card and voter ID for Rasel but could not arrange for Bahar for technical reasons.

Bahar Miya came to Kanuwamari in Nagaon district in May 2023. They met ABT supporter Matiur Rahman who managed fake voter ID, PAN Card and Aadhar for Bahar Miya.

Sources said Khalil Miya had trained them to motivate unemployed youths of minority communities to join ABT on the pretext of religion. 

The two members continued to do their jobs in the past. However, both were not very active in Assam but took many measures to expand their networks in other parts of the country such as Gujarat and Bengaluru. 

The SoU is in close touch with the state police of Gujarat and Karnataka to get more input on Rasel and Bahar and their network.

The SoU also seized several booklets containing al-Qaeda slogans, three mobile phones and 11 SIM cards from them. 

Four of the SIM cards are from Bangladesh, one from Nepal and the remaining six from India. Two of the six Indian SIM cards are from Assam, the source said. 

Police have also contacted specific telecom companies to get details of the SIM cards.