ISIS has generated lot of interest in Assam; we are alert and worried, police say

ISIS has attracted volunteers from all over the world, including Indians, to join the jihadist group.
Text resize:AAA
GUWAHATI: Following a rise in jihadist activities, Assam Police are worried about international Islamist terrorist outfits like the ISIS (Islamic State) making inroads into Assam, a senior police official said.

Assam's director general of police (DGP) Khagen Sarma said this during a news conference held at the Assam Police headquarters here on Tuesday.

He said though no one from Assam had joined the ISIS so far, yet people's interest in the terror organization was on the rise.

"We have not seen anyone joining the ISIS so far in Assam but a lot of interest has generated in the outfit in Assam. We are alert and worried," Sarma said.

READ ALSO: 39 Indians taken as prisoners in Iraq by ISIS are alive, confirms MEA

"Many people have visited the ISIS websites through Internet and the hits recorded by these websites indicate that it is more than curiosity. It is on the higher side like in Jammu & Kashmir or in Andhra Pradesh," the official said.

"We do not have the expertise and equipment to monitor this but the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) is monitoring all these developments," the DGP said, adding the cyber cell of the criminal investigation department (CID), Assam Police, is also working on it.

READ ALSO: 'Need to expand caliphate' for Indian Muslims, Hyderabad woman ISIS recruiter says

He said there was a threat to the state from the fundamentalist forces "both the Hindu right-wing fundamentalist and Islamist fundamentalist outfits".

While the actions of the Islamist fundamentalist forces are visible in the state the Hindu fundamentalist groups are not yet active.

"Recently we arrested 24 members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB), a Bangladesh-based Islamist terror outfit, who have spread to Assam and some other states in India after the Bangladesh government launched a crackdown against them", Sarma said.

READ ALSO: ISIS map of areas it wants to take over by 2020 includes India

"We have also arrested members of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) from Assam in the past," he added.