Intensifying operations on terror activities in Assam — DGP

Guwahati, Sep. 22 (PTI): Days after the arrest of a Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) operative from Kanpur and subsequent arrests of seven of his associates from the state, the Assam Police has intensified operations on terrorist activities here, Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia said on Saturday.

“The arrest of HM operative Kamar-uz-Zaman from Kanpur, who hails from Assam, was a combined effort of several agencies. We have made seven arrests here following Kamar’s arrest,” Saikia told reporters at a press conference here.

Interrogation of the arrested so far in Assam for suspected HM links is going on and enquiry is progressing in the right direction, Saikia said.

On Kamar being taken into custody, he said, “The team of Assam Police that had gone to Kanpur has returned. We will work on their feedback”.

Besides making arrests and bringing about improvement in its won technical capabilities, the police is working to fight and defeat terrorist activities in the state by engaging the social media to connect to the public, he said.

The DGP further said the strong social fabric of the state did not allow fundamentalist elements to gain any foothold here.

Additional DGP Pallab Bhattacharjya, who was also present in the press conference, said plans have been put in place to form special cells to combat the fundamentalist threat.

“These (terrorist) organizations operate surreptitiously and in a clandestine manner. The police also has to act likewise to defeat them,” Bhattacharjya said.