'Will Eradicate Terrorism,' Says Assam CM After Top ISIS Leaders Nabbed In Dhubri

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma asserted on Thursday that they will "eliminate" terrorism from the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. His statement followed the Special Task Force (STF) of Assam police capturing two high-ranking ISIS leaders in Assam's Dhubri district.

Reacting to a ‘X’ post from Assam police, CM Sarma stated, " We shall continue our fight against the fundamentalist and eradicate terrorism from the soil of our nation under the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi. Thank you, @assampolice".

We shall continue our fight against the fundamentalist and eradicate terrorism from the soil of our nation under the leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister @narendramodi .
Thank you, @assampolice https://t.co/lVhm8uwto4

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) March 21, 2024

In a significant development, the STF of Assam police apprehended two top ISIS leaders in Assam's Dhubri district. The captured leaders were identified as Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi, the head of ISIS in India, and his associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan. The STF operation was led by Parthasarathi Mahanta, IGP (STF), and Kalyan Kumar Pathak, Additional Superintendent of Police (STF).

Mahanta said that sister agencies provided information about the two ISIS leaders planning to enter India through the Dhubri Sector for sabotage activities.

"Based on the input, an STF team was deputed to locate and apprehend the said accused persons, who are also wanted by NIA. The team proceeded to Dhubri in the evening hours of March 19. Thereafter, since the input was credible, a manhunt was launched in the International border area to nab the culprits. At around 4:15 am on March 20, the accused persons were detected in Dharmasala area of Dhubri after they had crossed the international border. Both of them were apprehended and brought to the STF office at Guwahati," IG (STF)

Both individuals were identified as Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi, son of Ajmal Farooqi from Chakrata, Dehradun, and Anurag Singh alias Rehan, son of Manbir Singh from Diwana, Panipat, who converted to Islam, with his wife being a Bangladeshi national.

The duo was deeply indoctrinated and motivated, involved in ISIS activities like recruitment, terror funding, and planning terror acts using IEDs across India. They face pending cases with NIA, Delhi, ATS, Lucknow, etc. STF, Assam, will hand them over to NIA for further legal proceedings.

Also Read: Major Terrorist Plot Foiled: Top ISIS Leaders Apprehended in Assam's Dhubri