Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma praised the Assam Police for their swift action in busting terror module by apprehending two top-ranking ISIS leaders in Dhubri district on March 20. Reaffirming the State’s dedication to combat fundamentalism and terrorism, CM Himanta expressed, “We shall continue our fight against fundamentalism and eradicate terrorism from our nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Thank You Assam Police.”
The ISIS leaders, who were hiding in the neighbouring country and planning to infiltrate the Dhubri for sabotage activities, were arrested following intelligence inputs from the Dharmasala area of Dhubri. A Special Task Force or STF team, led by STF IGP IPS Partha Sarathi Mahanta, and STF Additional SP APS Kalyan Kumar Pathak, was deployed.
The individuals apprehended by the police have been identified as ISIS India head Haris Farooqi and his associate Anurag Singh. Both are wanted by the National Investigation Agency or NIA.
According to police, the accused were intercepted around 4:15 am on March 20, in the Dharmasala area of Dhubri after crossing the international border. They were promptly apprehended and taken to the STF office in Guwahati. Haris Farooqi, also known as Harish Ajmal Farukhi, hails from Chakrata, Dehradun, and is identified as the leader of ISIS in India. Anurag Singh, previously known as Rehan, hails from Diwana, Panipat, and converted to Islam; his wife is a Bangladeshi national. Both individuals are described as highly indoctrinated and motivated leaders or members of ISIS in India.
They are implicated in various activities including recruitment, terror funding, and planning terror acts across the nation. Multiple cases against them are pending at the NIA in Delhi, as well as at the Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) in Lucknow, and other agencies.
The STF, Assam, will hand over the accused to NIA for further legal actions.
