8 detained in India over terror link

Indian police have uncovered a cross-border terror network and arrested eight individuals, including a Bangladeshi national from Rajshahi, during coordinated raids across West Bengal, Assam, and Kerala on December 17-18.

According to Assam police, the arrests were part of Operation Praghat, initiated following intelligence inputs about anti-national activities linked to Md Farhan Israk, a Bangladeshi national and an associate of Jasimuddin Rahmani, leader of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), reports Telegraph India.

Md Sad Radi, a Bangladeshi national from Rajshahi, was apprehended in Kerala without valid travel documents. Others arrested include Minarul Sheikh and Md Abbas Ali from West Bengal, and Nur Islam Mandal, Abdul Karim Mandal, Mojibar Rahman, Hamidul Islam, and Enamul Hoque from Assam.

The police stated the group was working to establish sleeper cells in Assam and West Bengal, intended for violent activities aimed at disrupting peace. The suspects allegedly helped Radi recruit and indoctrinate individuals with fundamentalist ideologies, the report said.

Radi reportedly traveled to Assam and West Bengal to meet sleeper-cell members of the banned ABT before moving to Kerala to further expand operations. He was sent to India in November 2024 to spread the group's ideology and build sleeper cells across the country.

The suspects were in contact with Farhan Israk through Radi. Israk allegedly directed sleeper-cell activities with the assistance of Nur Islam Mandal and Mojibar Rahman, police said.

The sleeper cells were intended to serve as covert operational units, poised for violent activities that would be initiated to disrupt peace and cause destruction of life, according to Telegraph India.