Eleven persons have been arrested in Assam and Tripura for their alleged links with Bangladesh-based extremist groups, PTI quoted the police as saying on Tuesday.

A Special Task Force of the Assam Police carried out a coordinated operation on Monday night in Assam’s Baksa, Barpeta, Chirang and Darrang districts, and a district in Tripura.

While 10 persons were arrested in Assam, one was apprehended from Tripura, said Guwahati Police Commissioner Partha Sarathi Mahanta.

They face charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Mahanta said that the arrested persons were members of an organisation named Imam Mahmuder Kafil, which was formed in 2018 by a former member of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, The Hindu reported.

In 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs banned the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and its Indian affiliate groups for allegedly promoting acts of terrorism.

Mahanta described the arrested persons as “jihadist elements” who were working under the orders of Bangladesh-based groups. He alleged that they aimed to “destabilise” India’s North East.

“They wanted to establish ‘Muslim supremacy’ in this part of the country,” PTI quoted him as saying.

Security officers have alleged that leaders of extremist organisations, including Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Al Qaeda, helped activate and expand Imam Mahmuder Kafil’s network in India after the change of government in Bangladesh in August 2024, according to The Hindu.

“The activities are coordinated through secure social media platforms,” the newspaper quoted a dossier about the group as saying. “One of these, Purva Akash, functions as the principal platform to radicalise, recruit, and finance people in Assam, Tripura and West Bengal.”

Some members of the group allegedly travelled to Bangladesh using valid travel documents for training, while meetings between India-based members and handlers were said to have taken place in Meghalaya, the Special Task Force claimed.

The police also claimed to have traced financial links involving digital payments and hawala transactions between members in India and Bangladesh.