Interest in ISIS rising: DGP

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER & IANS

GUWAHATI, Sept 29: Interest in the ISIS and jihadi organizations is on the rise in Assam, which has got the State police worried. This revelation was made by Assam DGP Khagen Sharma on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Assam police headquarters in Guwahati, the DGP said that although no ISIS activity has yet been seen in the State, internet users are frequently making ISIS related searches. No one from Assam has joined the IS so far, but rising interest in the terror organisation is a worrying aspect, said Sarma.

“Many people have visited the ISIS websites through Internet and the hits recorded by these websites indicate that it is more than curiosity. It is on the higher side like in Jammu and Kashmir or in Andhra Pradesh,” the DGP said.

“We do not have the expertise and equipment to monitor this but the tiol Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is monitoring all these developments,” the DGP said, adding the cyber cell of the Crimil Investigation Department (CID), Assam Police, is also working on it.

He said there was a threat to the State from the fundamentalist forces “both the Hindu right wing fundamentalist and Islamist fundamentalist outfits”.

While the actions of the Islamist fundamentalist forces are visible in the State, the Hindu fundamentalist groups are not yet active.

“Recently we arrested 24 members of the Jamaatul Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB), a Bangladesh-based Islamist terror outfit, who have spread to Assam and some other states in India after the Bangladesh government launched a crackdown against them”, Sarma said.

“We have also arrested members of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) from Assam in the past,” he added.

The DGP also said that the Assam police is striving to increase the ratio of female police personnel vis-a-vis male personnel. Stating that at present there are 65, 000 personnel in Assam police, he said, “We have already posted 1,036 female constables. In each police station presently, at least two female constables will be there.”

On the recent spurt in crimes against women, the DGP said that as per records most of these cases are related to kidpping. He further said, “Most of the cases related to disappearance of females are registered as kidpping initially. But, upon further investigation, around 75 per cent of such cases are found to be elopement cases. So, we are trying to sort this out.”