NIA takes custody of two ISIS operatives nabbed by Assam STF

GUWAHATI: The national investigation agency (NIA) has taken into its custody the two ISIS operatives, who were arrested by the special task force (STF) of the Assam police.

The development was confirmed by inspector general (IG) of Assam police Partha Sarathi Mahanta on Thursday (March 21).

“Due to a pending case, we have handed over these two individuals to the NIA. The NIA took custody of the duo,” Assam police IG Partha Sarathi Mahanta said.

The NIA, later in the day, produced the two top ISIS leaders at the special NIA court in Guwahati city of Assam.

Earlier on Wednesday (March 20), Assam police’s special task force (STF) apprehended two suspected high-ranking ISIS leaders in a counter-terrorism operation.

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Acting on intelligence inputs, the Assam STF team tracked down the accused, Haris Farooqi and Anurag Singh, along the Bangladesh border in Dhubri sector.

Farooqi, identified as the head of ISIS in India, and Singh, his converted associate, were allegedly planning to enter India for sabotage activities.

Both were allegedly involved in recruitment, terror funding, and plotting attacks using IEDs for the ISIS.