The escape of some leaders of terrorist groups after mob-aided jailbreaks during the political turmoil in Bangladesh could have a debilitating effect in eastern India, specifically Assam and Tripura, a new think tank said.
On August 6, an armed mob attacked the high-security prison in Sherpur, freeing more than 500 inmates. A similar jailbreak in Gazipur saw 209 prisoners escape.
The group said Ikramul Haque alias Abu Talha, the India operations head of Ansarullah BanglaTeam (ABT), was one of those who escaped during the jailbreak. He was arrested in Dhaka in 2023 based on intelligence input from Indian agencies.
“Another escapee was Niyamatullah, the commander of a module busted in Kolkata. It is still unclear whether the amir (head) of Jamaatul Muslimeen, Abdul Amin and Zakaria Mondul,the leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh (JMB) have escaped in these prison breaks as they were also in these high-security jails,” the SHARE document said.
“This is an exceptionally alarming situation, especially for Assam and Tripura, where several modules of ABT and JMB have been busted in recent times. Between 2022 and 2023, more than 60 members of ABT were arrested from these States, of which more than 30 were from Bangladesh,” it said.
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