The alleged Indian head of ISIS and his colleague were arrested in Assam's Dhubri district on Wednesday after crossing from Bangladesh, based on intelligence reports. The Chief Public Relations Officer of Assam Police, Pranabjyoti Goswami, stated in a press release that the arrest was made near Dharmasala following covert tip-offs.
Farooqui hails from Dehradun
He revealed that both were brought to the STF office in Guwahati. 'Their identities have been confirmed, with Haris Farooqui aka Harish Ajmal Farooki identified as the head of ISIS in India, hailing from Chakrata in Dehradun. His associate, originally from Panipat and known as Anurag aka Rehan, has converted to Islam, and his wife is a Bangladeshi national,' Goswami said.
Pending cases across multiple locations
The spokesperson added, 'Having undergone rigorous ISIS training, they are implicated in a wide range of activities across India, including ISIS recruitment, terror funding, and using IEDs to conduct terrorist operations.' It was noted that numerous cases against them are pending in various jurisdictions, including Delhi, Lucknow, and agencies like NIA and ATS.
Checking enforced along the international border
The STF Assam will now proceed with legal action and hand over the accused to the NIA. Goswami stated that, based on information from allied agencies, it was known that two key ISIS figures were stationed in Bangladesh with intentions to infiltrate India through the Dhubri sector for terrorist activities.
Acting on these inputs, a team was deployed to track and apprehend them. Police reported that a search operation was initiated along the international border area, and by the early hours of March 20, at around 4:15 AM, they were detected in the Dharmasala region of Dhubri after crossing the border.
