Guwahati : Indian security and intelligence agencies have dismantled a significant jihadi network operating in Assam and other parts of Northeast India, following months of detailed surveillance and intelligence gathering.

Acting on inputs from central intelligence agencies, authorities identified the operations of Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a Bangladesh-based extremist offshoot of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with active cells in Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal. Founded in 2018 by Jewel Mahmud (also known as Imam Mahmud Habibullah or Sohail), IMK propagates the ideology of “Ghazwatul Hind” and maintains ties with transnational jihadi organisations.

Investigators noted that the ouster of the Hasina government in Bangladesh in August 2024 enabled senior JMB, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) leaders to reactivate and expand their Indian modules. Two Bangladeshi nationals, Umar and Khalid, coordinated activities in Assam, where the local cell was led by Nasim Uddin alias Tamim from Barpeta Road.

The group allegedly used encrypted platforms, particularly a digital channel named “Purva Akash”, for recruitment, radicalisation, and financial mobilisation. Intelligence reports suggest that recruits-some Indian passport holders with prior travel to Bangladesh-were systematically indoctrinated, took formal oaths of allegiance (bayat), and, in some cases, trained in Bangladesh.

IMK also exploited local social and religious gatherings for recruitment, with clandestine meetings reportedly held in Assam mosques from December 2024 onward.

Financial investigations revealed the use of hawala networks, bank transfers, and UPI channels to funnel funds from Assam and Tripura to Bangladesh, supporting training and operational logistics. Extremist material on weapons and bomb-making circulated in Assam bore close resemblance to previously recovered IMK documents in Bangladesh, highlighting sustained cross-border coordination.

Terming the operations a serious threat to India’s sovereignty and public order, the Assam Police Special Task Force, along with central agencies, launched coordinated raids on the night of December 29-30, 2025, across multiple districts in Assam-including Barpeta, Chirang, Baksa, and Darrang-and in Tripura. Eleven operatives were apprehended, including Nasim Uddin, along with associates from Assam and West Tripura.

Officials described the arrests as a major breakthrough in dismantling the IMK network in Northeast India. Investigations are ongoing to trace additional operatives, financial trails, and sleeper cells linked to transnational jihadi outfits along India’s eastern border.

This operation underscores the continued vigilance of Indian security agencies against extremist networks seeking to exploit regional vulnerabilities, particularly in border states with strategic and demographic sensitivities.