Eleven alleged associates of the Bangladesh-based jihadi outfit Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), arrested late last month, have confessed to their involvement in terror-related activities during interrogation, Assam Police sources said on Saturday.
The arrests were made by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Assam Police during coordinated operations carried out on December 30 across several districts of Assam — Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa and Darrang — and in neighbouring Tripura.
Of those arrested, 10 are from Assam, while one was picked up from Jaipur village in West Tripura district.
IMK is described by police as a Bangladesh-based offshoot of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Investigators said the accused admitted to collecting funds in parts of Barpeta, Chirang and other areas of lower Assam to further the outfit’s activities.
According to police sources, indoctrination sessions were held at certain locations, including mosques, where references were made to waging armed struggle against the Indian state.
The stated objective, investigators said, was to incite violent activities in the name of jihad and foment communal unrest in Assam and Tripura.
The STF said its probe revealed that Nachimuddin of Barpeta, identified as the ‘Amir’ of the local module, along with one of the arrested associates from Tripura, travelled to Bangladesh in April or May 2024 to attend meetings and undergo training linked to IMK.
Investigators also traced the radicalisation process of one of the accused, Nasim Uddin alias Tamim of Nichuka in Barpeta Road.
Police said he came into contact with IMK-linked handlers after interacting with a YouTube video promoting the concept of a ‘Mujaddid’, a religious reformer believed to appear every 100 years in Islam.
Following an online exchange, he was allegedly directed to a Telegram account operated by a person identifying himself as Khalid, who shared extremist literature and so-called ‘Ilham’ in PDF format.
Police said Khalid acted on instructions from Bangladesh-based operatives Umar, Sujan Bin Sultan and Shamim Barah, along with Mir Rahman of West Bengal and Jagir Miah of Tripura, to propagate extremist interpretations of religious texts and promote the claim that a ‘Mujaddid’ named Imam Mahmud had already emerged.
The investigation further revealed that the accused were connected through a WhatsApp group named ‘Purba Akash’, which was allegedly used for communication, radical propaganda and coordination among members operating across Assam and Tripura.
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IMK, police said, was founded in 2018 by Jewel Mahmud alias Imam Mahmud Habibullah alias Sohail, a former JMB member who claims leadership of the group and propagates the ideology of ‘Ghazwatul Hind’.
Following the change of regime in Bangladesh in August 2024, senior leaders of outfits such as JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent allegedly instructed IMK to activate and expand its modules in India.
Investigators said the post-transition period in Bangladesh saw the release or renewed activity of several extremist elements, which, in turn, strengthened ideological networks linked to IMK in India through digital platforms.
The outfit is alleged to have used websites and social media channels to disseminate propaganda advocating violent jihad and armed action.
Further investigation into the network and its cross-border linkages is continuing in phases, police said.
