8 remanded to judicial custody over terror links

GUWAHATI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested the eight persons charged for having links with the terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) from Hojai Police. The persons were lodged in Nagaon Jail. After the Hojai Police handed them over to NIA, they were produced before the NIA Special Court later in the day. The court remanded them to judicial custody.

The arrested eight persons are Sehnewaj Alom (39), Saidul Alom, Umar Farukh (35), Riyaj Uddin (50), Md. Jainal Ahmed (55), Md. Baharul Islam (23) Saiful Islam and Abhimanyu Chauhan.

Sources said that while Riyaj Uddin was in touch with Hizbul Mujahideen to strike an arms supply deal, the police have gathered enough evidences of terror links against Saiful Islam, the brother of Qamar-uz-Zaman who was arrested by the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police in early part of September.

Further investigations are on to unravel the terror network in Assam. In a well-coordinated effort to unearth the links of ISI-backed terrorist outfits in Assam and the Northeast, a six-member team of the NIA is carrying out intensive interrogation of the already arrested persons for having links with Hizbul Mujahideen . The case related to HM is registered at Jamunamukh police station under Hojai district.

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