GUWAHATI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained at least six persons over their alleged links to suspected anti-national activities during raids at multiple locations in Assam’s Barpeta district, a source said on Tuesday, September 29.
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The detentions were made in Barpeta Road, Howly and Sarbhog.
Those detained are Mustafizur Rahman and Nichukar Yakub Ali from Barpeta Road; Rakibul Islam from Howly; and Zakir Hussain, Chanbar Ali and Faruk Abdullah from Sarbhog, the source said.
The central anti-terror agency is conducting searches at several locations across Assam, West Bengal and Kerala in connection with a cross-border terror conspiracy tied to Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) offshoot.
Of the 16 places, 10 are reportedly being searched in Assam, five locations in West Bengal and one in Kerala.
Earlier this year, the NIA had filed charges against 11 accused persons in connection with a terror conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by the offshoot of the proscribed Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorist organisation.
Those accused were charged under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P) Act), 1967, in the chargesheet filed before the NIA Special Court in Guwahati, Assam.
NIA investigations had revealed the active involvement of the accused in the conspiracy of Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a manifestation of JMB, to expand the terror outfit’s ideology in West Bengal and the northeastern states of India, including Assam and Tripura.
According to the NIA, the conspiracy involved the promotion of the terrorist organisation’s extremist agenda, radicalisation of vulnerable youth and expansion of the outfit’s network in India.
Investigations by the anti-terror agency showed that JMB’s senior member Imam Mahmud Habibullah had established IMK to promote the banned outfit’s agenda on Indian soil.
NIA investigations had further revealed that the 11 chargesheeted accused had conspired to grow the presence of IMK/JMB in India through clandestine meetings, religious indoctrination programmes, circulation of extremist literature and the use of digital platforms for anti-India propaganda.
“They were promoting allegiance to the leadership of IMK/JMB. Two of the key chargesheeted accused have been identified as Nasimuddin, who was spearheading IMK’s activities in Assam, and Jagir Mia, who was leading the outfit in Tripura. During the course of investigation, NIA uncovered a trail of incriminating documents, electronic devices and digital records, which were used to build the case against the accused,” the NIA had said in June 2026.
