Assam STF Interrogates Maulvi Regarding IIT Guwahati Student’s Alleged ISIS Links

GUWAHATI: The Assam Police’s Special Task Force conducted an operation on Amingaon, North Guwahati, on Saturday to arrest an IIT Guwahati student attempting to join ISIS.

The student identified as Tauseef Ali Farooqui from Delhi, was arrested on March 28 while traveling to join the banned terrorist group ISIS.

The STF operation today aimed to investigate possible connections between local residents and ISIS. The focus of the investigation was on the involvement of a Maulvi at a nearby mosque in this matter.

STF also searched Moriyapattya Jamma Masjid in Amingaon, conducting thorough searches and inquires. This action followed Farooqui’s arrest by the STF on suspicion of having connections to extremist groups.

As part of their investigation, the STF questioned a cleric named Gulzar Hussain, who lives in Mukalmua in Assam.

Facing allegations of connections to ISIS, Tauseef Ali Farooqui was placed in the custody of the Special Task Force (STF) Assam for an additional five days on April 3.

Farooqui has been charged under section 10/13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is a strict law meant to fight unlawful and terrorist activities.

During his court appearance, Farooqui’s parents were present in the courtroom. After the five-day custody period, Farooqui is expected to appear in court again.

Farooqui was held by people in Damdama in Hajo on March 28 and handed over to the police. The police then handed over Farooqui, a resident of Delhi, to the STF. He is said by sources to be a brilliant student.

Following the discovery of an open letter on Touseef Ali Farooqui’s LinkedIn profile tagged as ‘An Open Letter,’ it was suspected that the student from IIT Guwahati was on his way to join the Islamic State, or ISIS.

In the ‘open letter’ on social media platform LinkedIn, Farooqui states that he wishes to ‘disassociate’ himself from the Indian Constitution and other Indian institutions.

His statement, interspersed with Ayats or verses from the Quran and their renderings, consists of his willingness to embark on ‘Hijrat’ or emigration to Islamic State-Khorasan Province, a regional branch of the Islamic State terrorist group active in South-Central Asia, primarily Afghanistan.

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