Assam: 53 jihadis apprehended since March in state, says Himanta Biswa Sarma

A total of 53 'jihadis' were apprehended by Assam Police this year including a Bangladesh national, the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on December 25.

While replying to a question of BJP MLA Terash Gowala on the last day of the winter session in Assam Assembly, Sarma informed that since March this year, a total of nine cases have been registered in seven districts of the state -- Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Dhubri, Barpeta, Goalpara, Tamulpur, and Nalbari.

''These seven districts have been the sources of alleged 'jihadi' activities in Assam,'' he added.

He further informed that a Bangladeshi national Saiful Islam alias Haroon Rashid alias Suman was arrested in connection with a case registered at the Barpeta police station.

''He was involved as an 'imam' of a mosque in the Barpeta district and was also working as an Arabic teacher in an Islamic academy there. He was distributing booklets related to jihadis and was encouraging Muslims to get involved in 'Jihadi' activities through his speeches,'' Sarma said.

The Assam CM also said that five other people are on run in alleged 'jihadi' cases and were encouraging Muslim youths through their speeches in different mosques in the districts.

Besides this, two women from Morigaon and Dhubri districts have also been arrested for their alleged involvement in 'Jihadi' activities.

Meanwhile, in another reply, Assam also said that drugs worth Rs 1,118.86 crore were seized in the state during the period from January 2021 to November this year.

''From January 2021 to November 2022, a huge quantity of contraband drugs worth Rs 118.86 crore have been seized in the state and a total of 8,280 persons have been arrested across the state in connection with this,'' Sarma added.

As per the Assam CM, during the period, 168.925 kg of heroin worth Rs 337.85 crore, 64,693.334 kg of ganja worth Rs 323.46 crore, 75,18,776 numbers of tablets worth Rs 375.93 crore, 3,67,912 bottles of cough syrup, 11.874 kg of morphine, 287.32 kg of opium, 17.70 kg of methamphetamine, 0.31 kg of cocaine, 213.935 kg of the cannabis plant, 0.563 kg of tramadol, 3316.8 kg of poppy straw and 10 kg of raw opium bud have been seized in the state.

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