According to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Assam government would soon require police verification and online registration for non-resident madrasa professors and imams.
The action comes on the heels of the arrest of 25 persons, including Bangladeshis, with ties to the Al Qaida branch Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a terrorist organisation with a base in Bangladesh (AQIS).
Police seized Abdus Subhan (43) and Jalaluddin Sheikh (49), two imams linked with two different mosques in the Goalpara district, on Saturday. Police also discovered damning documents, phones, and SIM cards linking them to terrorist organisations such as ABT and AQIS.
Two people with extremist ties have been arrested. Sarma told reporters on Monday that one of them had been identified as a kingpin who, in addition to being an imam, was involved in a terror network.
“We have prepared some standard operating procedures (SOPs) through which residents will have to notify local police about new imams who are from outside the area.” he stated, in order for police to investigate new imams’ antecedents before they start work.
The state government, according to Sarma, will also develop a website where imams and private madrasa teachers from outside Assam can apply for jobs. The chief minister made no mention of the SOPs or the portal’s operational launch date.
