A New Threat

Last night too, senior security officials in Assam discussed at length the increasing activities of such groups, with Assam Police Special Branch IG Khagen Sharma pointing the finger of suspicion at jehadi elements for Thursday’s serial blasts, which left at least 80 persons dead and several more injured.

Some of the fundamentalist or militant organisations that are active in the state and find mention in the Assam Police website include the Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam (MULFA), Muslim Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA), Islamic Liberation Army of Assam, United Reformation Protest of Assam and People’s United Liberation Front.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, too, is on record saying that some of these groups have links with SIMI, several Pakistan-sponsored militant outfits and that they also receive assistance from Pakistan’s Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

It may be recalled that it was in Guwahati that the first arrest of any ISI operative was ever made in the country. The Assam Police had in August 1999 arrested four Islamic terrorists in the heart of the state capital, two of whom were Pakistani nationals — Md Fasiullah Hussaini of Hyderabad (Sind) and Md Javed Waqar — who were top activists of the Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

Subsequent to their arrest, the Assam Police had arrested 13 more persons, all of them local youths from the minority community. One of them was Nurul Amin, who was given a life sentence by a Delhi Court in connection with the Connaught Place abduction of two British nationals carried out by Harkat-ul-Ansar, headed by Masood Ajhar. Shockingly, Nurul had escaped from custody while being taken to a hospital for a check-up in October 2006.

But nine years after they were arrested, four persons including Fasiullah Hussaini and Md Javed Waqar were released by a session’s court here on June 11 due to lack of ‘solid evidence.’ Along with these two Pakistanis nationals, Billal Miyan, a Bangladeshi national was also released. Bilal was arrested in West Bengal. All of them were acquitted of their charges filed under sections 121, 122 and 153(A) of the IPC which included allegations of waging war against India, criminal conspiracy and sedition.