A private madrasa was demolished in Assam's Barpeta district on Monday, which was illegally set up in government land and was allegedly used for "jihadi activities."
This was the second private madrasa being demolished this month since police in Assam stepped up operation against alleged modules of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based terror group having links with al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). On August 4, a private madrasa was demolished with the use of bulldozers in central Assam's Morigaon district after a teacher working there was arrested on charges of being part of the ABT module.
After the madrasa at Dhakaliapara in Barpeta district was similarly demolished with bulldozers on Monday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that it was being used as a "hub of jihadi activities."
Police said the demolition was carried out following the arrest of two persons, Abdul Kalam Azad and Akbar Ali, on Saturday for being part of the Barpeta module of the ABT. "They are brothers and had constructed the madrasa. They had provided shelter to two Bangladeshi nationals who are members of ABT. They also provided logistic support to the ABT members," Barpeta superintendent of police, Amitava Sinha told DH on Monday. There were at least 50 students with boarding facilities in the madrasa.
"Based on a report from police that the madrasa was being used for anti-national activities, we inspected it and found that it was illegally constructed on government land and without any permission from the administration. So it was demolished as per the laws," another official said.
Sinha said police have arrested 22 members of ABT from Barpeta since March this year when a crackdown was launched against "jihadi activities" in the state. Barpeta is a Muslim-majority district.
Police in March had arrested Saiful Islam alias Mohammad Suman, a Bangladeshi national, who was allegedly part of a terror network and was indoctrinating Muslim youths across Assam to carry forward "jihad." More than 30 persons have been arrested so far from across Assam since March.
The NIA, which had taken over a case in March had earlier said Islam was trying to set up a base of AQIS in eastern India.
The Assam government had shut down the government madrasa and said it was keeping a watch on the activities of the private madrasas.