In a major breakthrough, the Assam Police’s Special Task Force (STF) arrested eight terror suspects, including a Bangladesh national, Md Sad Radi, who is associated with the Al-Qaeda affiliate Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). Radi had entered India in November with the goal of activating sleeper cells in Assam and West Bengal. After carrying out initial operations, he moved to Kerala, where he was arrested in a coordinated effort with Kerala and Bengal police.

The STF’s operation, named “Praghat,” was launched based on detailed intelligence that uncovered plans by the terrorist group to target Hindu organizations, particularly members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Radi’s movement across multiple states raised alarms, suggesting that the terror plot was larger in scope than initially anticipated.

The group, led by Md Farhan Israk, an aide of an ABT leader in Bangladesh, was plotting violent acts, including assassinations of prominent Hindu leaders, to create communal unrest and disrupt national harmony. According to the STF, the suspects were working to recruit youth into terrorist organizations and were involved in spreading radical ideologies across West Bengal and Kerala.

The arrested individuals, including Minarul Sheikh, Md Abbas Ali, and others, were found to have participated in several meetings where they devised strategies to target Hindu groups and influence vulnerable youth to join their cause. These meetings, held in locations across West Bengal like Murshidabad and Falakata, were aimed at fostering religious tensions.

Special Director General of Police Harmeet Singh highlighted the importance of this operation in curbing the spread of external jihadi elements into India, stressing that it was a crucial step in preventing a potential outbreak of violence. The STF’s success in dismantling this plot underscores the growing threat posed by terrorist networks in the region and the need for continued vigilance.

Training to derail trains being imparted via madarsas in Jhansi and Kanpur, reveals NIA-ATS probe, mob had freed Mufti Khalid Nadvi detained in connection with the conspiracy.
As per the probe, students of the madarsas are being radicalised and instigated to derail trains. Moreover, the youths are also being trained on how to derail trains.

Amid rising incidents of attempts to derail trains by placing various objects on tracks are various places in the country, it has been revealed that training on how to derail trains was being imparted in madarsas. A probe by NIA and Uttar Pradesh ATS has unveiled a conspiracy to derail trans in Jhansi and Kanpur.

As per the probe, students of the madarsas are being radicalised and instigated to derail trains. Moreover, the youths are also being trained on how to derail trains. As part of the probe, the agencies are conducting raids at various madarsas in the region.

Such training is being imparted via online mode, and the probe teams recovered several videos. In the videos, radical Islamists are seen instigating youths to derail train, and also instructing on how to do the task.

One Madarsa teacher named Mufti Khalid Nadvi is being interrogated in connection with the conspiracy.

On Thursday, the investing team raided the houses of Nadvi and questioned him for several hours. However, when NIA and ATS teams were taking him to the police station for further interrogation, a massive Muslim mob attacked the convoy and freed Nadvi. The mob including a large number of women gathered after announcements were made from the local mosque.

Later the police again detained him, and he is being questioned. How laptop, mobile phone, and other items have been seized. He is accused of involvement in terrorist activities and foreign funding. After questioning, police released Mufti Khalid Nadvi.

Police have also filed a case against around 100 people for attacking the NIA-ATS team and freeing the detained person. Raids are being conducted to nab the accused.

In the last 3 months, there have been several attempts to derail important trains like the Sabarmati Express and Kalindi Express around Jhansi and Kanpur. Stones were also pelted on the ‘Vande Bharat’ train in this region. Various objects like cylinders, wood logs etc were placed on the tracks, however, they were spotted by alert railway workers or locals, and there was no untoward incident.

Photo: File Photo

In a recent effort to address the issue of illegal immigration, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s (L-G) Secretariat has launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. As part of this operation, two Bangladeshi nationals were arrested in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area for overstaying without valid documents, police confirmed on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast Delhi), Ravi Kumar Singh, revealed that the arrested individuals, identified as Abdul Ahad (22) and Mohammad Azizul (32), were apprehended on December 10 and 12, respectively. Both men were found to have been living in India without legal authorization and have been handed over to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for deportation proceedings.

Ongoing Verification Drive
DCP Singh shared that 916 individuals in Southeast Delhi have been verified during the crackdown so far. Out of these, eight illegal immigrants, including six Bangladeshis, have been detained. Several police teams have been deployed to carry out verifications as part of this intensified operation.

During questioning, Abdul Ahad, who works as a laborer and hails from Sylhet in Bangladesh, admitted to entering India on December 6 with the help of a Bangladeshi agent to seek employment. Meanwhile, Mohammad Azizul, a resident of Dhaka, disclosed that he had entered India in 2004 through the Petrapole-Benapole border in West Bengal and had been residing in the country ever since.

Landlords Unaware of Foreigners Act Provisions
Police also noted that many landlords in the area were unaware of the mandatory provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which require landlords and hotel operators to report foreign tenants to the FRRO within 24 hours of their arrival.

The crackdown, which was ordered by Delhi L-G V K Saxena, is part of a two-month drive aimed at identifying and deporting illegal immigrants from Bangladesh residing in the capital.