Indian security forces on Wednesday nabbed two Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists who conspired to cause massive destruction in India.
The two ISIS militants were arrested while illegally entering India from Bangladesh, said Indian media outlets.
Indian police claimed that they nabbed the ISIS India head and his key aide while they were illegally entering Dhubri in Assam from neighboring Bangladesh.
They were identified as ISIS chief Haris Farooqui alias Harish Ajmal Farooqui and his accomplice Rehan. They were arrested in the latest anti-militant operation. Farooqui and Rehan are on the most wanted list of the Indian apex investigation agency National Investigation Agency( NIA).
The Special Task Force of the Assam Police on Wednesday arrested the top IS terrors and claimed that they found that the IS militants had conspired to commit destructive activities in India.
It was found that these two conspired to implement the plans in the neighboring country and in India, Indian media alleged.
The arrested militants have been handed over to the NIA team.
Official sources informed the media that the STF team had rushed to Dhubri in the evening hours of Tuesday after receiving information from sister agencies that two top-rung leaders of ISIS in India who were camping in Bangladesh would cross over to India in the Dhubri sector to carry out sabotage activities.
Based on the input, an STF team, led by IGP, STF, Parthasarathi Mahanta, and comprising additional SP, STF, Kalyan Kumar Pathak, and other ranks, was deputed to locate and apprehend the accused persons who are also wanted accused of the NIA.
“After that, since the input was credible in nature, a manhunt was launched in the International Border
area and the accused persons were detected in the Dharmasala area of Dhubri after they had crossed the international border around 4.15 am on Wednesday,” the chief public relations officer (CPRO) of Assam Police, said.
The two ISIS leaders were brought to the STF office in Guwahati. Arrested Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi of Chakrata, Dehradun, is the head of ISIS in India. His associate Anurag Singh alias Rehan of Diwana, Panipat, converted to Islam, and his wife is a Bangladeshi national, said Assam police.
“Both of them are highly indoctrinated and motivated leaders/ members of ISIS in India. They had furthered the cause of ISIS in India through conspiracies to carry out recruitment, terror funding, and terror acts by means of IEDs at several places across India,” the official said.
“Several cases are pending against them at NIA, Delhi, ATS, Lucknow, etc. STF, Assam will hand over the accused to NIA for further legal action against these fugitives,” the CPRO said.