Imams coming to Assam madrassas from outside state must register: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma issues SoPs

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday asked the people of the state to immediately inform the police they see any Imam, not known to them, visiting their village.

The Chief Minister also asked the police to verify and only after that allow the Imam to stay there.

"We have made some SoP (standard operating procedure) that if any Imam comes to your village and you do not know him, immediately inform the Police Station, they will verify, only after that, they can stay," Sarma said.

The Chief Minister further said, "Muslim community of Assam is helping us in this work."

The Assam Chief Minister also said that his government is making a portal for Imam and other people who are coming to madrassa from outside the state. "Those who are from Assam, do not need to register their names in that portal, people from outside will have to register their names in the portal," he added.

The statement of Sarma comes after two imams were arrested on Saturday in Goalpara district of the state for alleged linked to the Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) terror groups.

The accused have been identified as Abdus Subhan, Imam of Tinkunia Shantipur Mosque under Mornoi police station; and Jalaluddin Sheikh, Imam of Tilapara Natun Mosque under Matia police station in Goalpara.

Superintendent of Police (SP) of Goalpara district, VV Rakesh Reddy, said that both the individuals were arrested after being quizzed for several hours.

"We have gotten input in July this year from arrested Abbas Ali who is also linked with Jihadi elements. During the interrogation, we found that they were directly connected with Barpeta and Morigaon modules of AQIS/ABT in Assam," news agency ANI quoted the senior police officer as saying.

He further said that a number of incriminating material related to the Al-Qaeda, Jihadi elements, posters, books among other documents were seized along with the mobile phones during the house searches of the accused. Also, SIM cards and ID cards were recovered.

The SP of Goalpara district further informed that “The Bangladeshi nationals are absconding and the arrested terrorists had given shelter to the Bangladeshi terrorists in Goalpara. The arrested persons had organized one Dharma Sabha in December 2019 at Sundarpur Tilapara Madrassa under the Matia police station where many Bangladeshi nationals with linkages to AQIS were invited as guest speakers,” the police official told ANI.

He also said that the arrested individuals were involved in providing logistical support and sheltering the Bangladeshi nationals who are currently on the run.

"They confessed to being members of AQIS and recruiting Ansars/Sleeper Cells in Goalpara, as well as revealing direct funding and support from absconding Bangladeshi terrorists," the senior cop added.

Notably, on 28 July, 11 people were detained as part of a major crackdown in Assam for alleged links to global terror organisations such as AQIS and ABT.

With inputs from agencies

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