Intelligence inputs expose IMK jihadi network in Assam and Northeast; STF raids net 11 operatives across states

Indian security and intelligence agencies have uncovered an extensive jihadi network operating in Assam and other parts of Northeast India, following sustained surveillance of extremist activities in the region. 

Acting on detailed inputs from central intelligence agencies, investigators identified the operations of the Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a Bangladesh-based extremist module with active cells in Assam, Tripura and West Bengal.

The Imam Mahmuder Kafila is an offshoot of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and was founded in 2018 by Jewel Mahmud, also known as Imam Mahmud Habibullah or Sohail, a former JMB member who styles himself as the Amir of IMK. The outfit propagates the ideology of “Ghazwatul Hind” and aligns itself with transnational jihadi organisations. 

Intelligence agencies have learnt that following the regime change in Bangladesh in August 2024, senior leaders of JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) instructed IMK leadership to activate and expand its Indian modules. Subsequently, two Bangladeshi nationals, Umar and Khalid, were tasked with coordinating activities in Assam, where the local cell was headed by Nasim Uddin alias Tamim of Barpeta Road.

Investigations revealed that IMK coordinated its activities through encrypted and secure social media platforms. A key digital group titled “Purva Akash” functioned as the principal communication, recruitment and radicalisation platform. Through this channel, individuals in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura were allegedly radicalised, recruited and financially mobilised, including Indian passport holders with prior visits to Bangladesh and former members of proscribed terrorist organisations.

IMK projects itself as a Ghazwatul Hind–centric extremist module and disseminates violent jihadist propaganda advocating armed conquest of India. According to intelligence findings, after the change of government in Bangladesh, cadres of JMB, ABT and AQIS were released or emboldened, leading to a revival of their ideological influence and Indian networks, including those linked to IMK. Extremist literature authored by IMK leadership, such as Sarbobhoumo ‘Khamatar Malik Allah’ and Ghazwatul Hind er Sonkhipto Alochona, was systematically circulated online to indoctrinate recruits and sympathisers. In Assam, this content was shared extensively within the encrypted “Purba Akash” group.

Also Read: 11 arrested in Assam, Tripura over alleged Bangladesh-based extremist links

Security agencies stated that IMK followed a structured and clandestine recruitment process. Potential recruits were first identified through online jihadist channels and gradually indoctrinated using IMK propaganda. To formally join the outfit, recruits were required to take a ‘bayat’, or oath of allegiance, to Amir Mahmud Habibullah. This involved submission of personal details and identity proof, followed by recording a video of the oath, which was sent to an Indian “zimmedar” and then forwarded to the Amir in Bangladesh for authentication. Only after verification were recruits inducted. This process is believed to have radicalised several youths in Barpeta and Chirang districts of Assam, as well as parts of West Bengal.

IMK also exploited local social and religious gatherings for recruitment. Intelligence inputs point to several clandestine meetings held in local mosques since December 2024. At one such meeting on December 28, 2024, in Barpeta, IMK ideologues including Nasim Uddin and Manirul Islam allegedly made inflammatory speeches advocating violent armed struggle in India, with statements asserting that “atrocities on Muslims in India must be stopped with armed struggle.” 

These meetings typically involved small groups of six to eight local youths, who were urged to prepare for jihad. Some recruits reportedly travelled to Bangladesh on valid passports and visas to meet IMK leadership, while others were encouraged to migrate with their families for arms training. Notably, at least two Assam-based operatives crossed into Meghalaya in April 2025 to rendezvous with Bangladeshi handlers.

The investigation also traced IMK’s funding mechanisms, which included hawala networks and small bank transactions. Cash donations from recruits and supporters were pooled by Nasim Uddin in Assam and transferred to Bangladesh through hawala channels and multiple bank accounts. Operatives also allegedly used UPI platforms to route funds. Intelligence agencies estimate that lakhs of rupees were remitted from Assam and Tripura to Bangladesh to support extremist training and logistics, implicating several individuals in terrorism financing.

IMK’s cross-border coordination intensified after the ouster of the Hasina government in Bangladesh in 2024, following which its Amir was reportedly released from custody. Agencies noted that IMK actively promoted the concept of hijrat, or migration, to Bangladesh, and maintained training and ideological links with handlers across the border. Extremist material on weapons and bomb-making circulated in Assam was found to closely resemble material previously recovered from IMK-linked activities in Bangladesh, underscoring sustained cross-border collaboration.

Terming the activities a serious threat to India’s sovereignty, unity and public order, security agencies launched coordinated counter-operations. On the intervening night of December 29 and 30, 2025, teams of the Assam Police Special Task Force conducted raids at multiple locations in Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa and Darrang districts of Assam, as well as in Tripura. Eleven accused were apprehended during the operation, including Nasim Uddin alias Tamim of Barpeta Road, identified as the head of the Assam module, along with operatives from Assam and West Tripura.

Officials stated that the arrests marked a significant breakthrough in dismantling the IMK network in the Northeast, while cautioning that investigations are ongoing to trace further linkages, financial trails and sleeper cells connected to transnational jihadi outfits operating across the eastern border regions of India.