'Assam youth arrested for terror link had training in Jihad'

A day after the arrest of six persons for terror links in Assam's Barpeta district, police said that one of the arrested youth had been asked to work as a sleeper cell and to look for potential Muslim youth to be motivated for Jihad.

The Special Branch of the Assam police had Friday arrested six persons in connection with the Oct 2 blast at Burdwan in West Bengal and their suspected links with the Bangladesh-based Islamic terror network Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen (JMB).

A statement issued by the Assam police Saturday said that one of the arrested youth, identified as Shaikhul Islam alias Abdulla is one of the important members of the terror module operating in Assam.

"Shaikhul is also an associate of Shakil Ahmed alias Shamin, a JMB activist who died in IED blast in Burdwan Oct 2. Shaikhul had training in Jihad in Simulia Madrassa of Burdwan and also in another Madrassa in Murshidabad," the statement said.

"Shamin used to visit Barpeta under cover of garment business for motivating Muslim people in the name of Pan-Islamism. Investigation is on to identify those members of module and to arrest them," said the statement while adding that the Special Operation Unit (SOU) of the Assam police had registered a case in this regard.