DGP: Assam police to keep watch on ‘jihadi elements’

Guwahati: Assam director general of police Kuladhar Saikia here on Saturday said that Assam police is in process of developing a dedicated mechanism to probe and keep watch clandestine activities of Jihadi forces.

Admitting that threat of jihadi forces has come to the notice once again with the arrest of at least seven Hizbul Mujahideen operatives, Mr Saikia told reporters, “We have taken up the issue very seriously and working on strategy to keep a close watch on such forces.” He said that dedicated mechanism of the Assam police would operate in close coordination with various intelligence agencies across the states.

The Director General of Special Branch, Pallab Bhattacharya, who was also present in the press conference, said that it was very challenging to keep track of clandestine activities of Jihadi forces. Asking the media to refrain from giving it a communal colour, Mr Bhattacharya said that to check the activities of such radical forces, Assam Police was preparing a detailed action plan. Refusing to divulge the details of their action plan, the intelligence chief said that they are strengthening technical and human intelligence mechanism. Pointing out that demography of the state comprising the 30 per cent Muslim population was attracting such radical forces towards the state, Mr Bhattacharya however asserted that social fabric of the state in which Hindu and Muslims have very strong bonding would not allow such forces to make their footholds.

“We are confident that civil society which have very strong believe in secular ethos will reject any such attempt once again,” said Mr Bhattacharya, who regretted that a section of media was trying to give communal colour which may harm the ongoing process of investigation too.

Refusing to divulge the finding of the security forces, he said that they are yet to bust the entire clandestine operation of Hizbul Mujahideen in the state.

Admitting that most of those Hizbul operatives arrested in the state were radicalized in Kashmir, he said that revealing more details about the clandestine operation of these operatives would affect the investigation.