NIA to take custody of ISIS leaders arrested in Assam

The Assam police on Thursday said two leaders of ISIS who were arrested will be handed over to the National Investigation Agency for further investigation.

“Haris Farooqi alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi, and Anurag Singh alias Rehan, will be handed over to the NIA soon,” a senior police official said.

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They were apprehended in the Dharmasala area of the Dhubri sector following a special operation led by IGP Partha Sarathi Mahanta.

Farooqi, identified as the head of ISIS in India, is from Chakrata, Dehradun, while Singh, a converted Muslim, hails from Diwana, Panipat. Their arrest is seen as a significant blow to ISIS operations in India.

Mahanta said on the morning of March 28, the STF team located two men in the area, who were apparently seeking transportation.

“We had photographs of the top-level leaders of ISIS with us, and two of the photographs matched with these two men,” he added.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma vowed to eradicate terrorism from the nation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reacting to a tweet from the Assam police, he asserted, “We shall continue our fight against the fundamentalist and eradicate terrorism from the soil of our nation.”