Police announced the successful apprehension of two leaders of ISIS in India. The operation, led by IGP (STF) Assam, Partha Sarathi Mahanta culminated in the arrest of the suspects from the Dharmasala area of Dhubri Sector.
Mahanta revealed that the operation was prompted by credible intelligence received from a central agency 15 days prior, indicating possible movements of ISIS leaders in specific parts of the Dhubri Sector. Acting swiftly on this information, a special task force was deployed to track and apprehend the suspects.
"We received specific information about the likely movement of the suspects by the 19th. Therefore, I took an STF team along with Additional SP and we went to the general area of Dharmasala of Dhubri. NIA had already shared with us that these two guys are wanted in their case. Therefore, we shared this information with NIA and NIA immediately came over. And since they have a pending case, we have handed over these two guys to NIA. They're being arrested by NIA and being produced in the court" stated Mahanta.
On the morning of the 28th, the STF team located two men in the area, who were apparently seeking transportation. "We had photographs of the top-level leaders of ISIS with us, and two of the photographs matched with these two men," Mahanta added.
Speaking to India Today NE, Mahanta emphasized that Dubri is not turning into a hub for terrorist activities, stating, "We work on it as evidence comes up."
The arrested individuals were identified as Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi and Anurag Singh alias Rehan. Mahanta disclosed that Farooqi is the head of ISIS in India, hailing from Chakrata, Dehradun, while Singh, a converted Muslim, is from Diwana, Panipat, with a Bangladeshi national wife.
The special operation was carried out by the STF team led by IGP Mahanta and Additional Superintendent of Police (STF) Kalyan Kumar Pathak.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma vowed to eradicate terrorism from the nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Reacting to a tweet from the Assam police, CM Biswa asserted, "We shall continue our fight against the fundamentalist and eradicate terrorism from the soil of our nation."
The arrest of Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi and his associate Rehan is perceived as a critical blow to ISIS operations in India, marking a significant achievement in the fight against terrorism.