Jihadis operating modules in Assam's Char areas: Assam Police

With the police department in Assam stepping up operations against terror groups, it has come to light that terror modules in Dhubri district are apparently located in char (riverine island) areas, ostensibly due to their remoteness.

In Dhubri, 2 modules of the Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) are under the scanner and both of these are located in chars.

‘There are two places where modules have been tracked. One is in Bilasipara and the other in a place that falls under the dhubri police station. It is because police and intelligence take longer to reach and also due to less physical accessibility’ said Dhubri police superintendent Gurav Abhijeet Dilip talking to media on August 8 (Monday).

Dilip said that the revelation came to light after police arrested Jahura Khatun, suspected of having links to terrorists, from Bilasipara yesterday.

According to police, Khatun actively helped cadres and visited training centres ‘not only in Dhubri.’

She also tried to destroy evidence to save absconding suspects, police said, adding that the findings have revealed ABT cadres use highly sophisticated tech such as a ‘peer-to-peer’ app to stay in touch.

They also use IP masking and VPN in order to minimize their online traces.

These apps, the SP pointed out, are not normally available and must have been purchased from the dark web.

The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), also called Ansar Bangla is an Islamic Jihadi organization in Bangladesh, implicated in crimes including some brutal attacks and murders of atheist bloggers from 2013 to 2015 and a bank heist in April 2015.