NIA arrests 13 for links with Bangladesh terror outfit
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested 13 people for their alleged role in a subversive conspiracy linked to an offshoot of the Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned terrorist organisation. The arrests followed coordinated searches at 16 locations across Assam, Kerala, and West Bengal, the agency said on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.
Raids and arrests across three States
According to the NIA, the operation led to the arrest of eight suspects from Assam, four from West Bengal, and one from Kerala. The agency said the arrests were part of a broader probe into efforts by the JMB offshoot to extend its network and propaganda machinery in India, particularly in West Bengal and the northeastern States.
Origins of the case and online radicalisation module
The NIA’s case stems from a series of arrests made by the Assam police on December 28, 2025, when 11 individuals were taken into custody from Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal. Two days later, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Assam police registered cases against these 11 people.
Subsequently, after another two days, 24 additional individuals were booked in connection with an online radicalisation module said to be operated through the Purva Akash Telegram group. Investigators attributed the module to Bangladesh-based handlers linked to Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), which the NIA has identified as an offshoot of the JMB.
NIA findings: Expansion plans, indoctrination, digital propaganda
In a statement, the agency said its investigation uncovered the involvement of the accused in a conspiracy by the IMK to disseminate the JMB’s ideology and expand its footprint inside India. “The conspiracy involved promotion of the terrorist organisation’s extremist agenda, radicalisation of vulnerable youth, and expansion of the outfit’s network in India,” the agency said.
According to the NIA, a senior JMB member, Imam Mahmud Habibullah, established IMK to advance the banned outfit’s agenda on Indian soil. The probe also pointed to efforts by the accused to build organisational capacity through clandestine meetings, religious indoctrination programmes, and the circulation of extremist literature. The agency said these activities were supplemented by the use of digital platforms to spread anti-India propaganda.
The NIA added that 10 accused in the case—nine Bangladeshi nationals and one Indian—remain absconding.
Additional arrests in separate Manipur cases
In separate developments in Manipur, the NIA arrested 48-year-old Thangmang Haokip of Churachandpur district in connection with an improvised explosive device (IED) attack at a home in Tronglaobi Awang Leikai at Moirang in Bishnupur district on April 7. The blast killed two children and injured another person.
Haokip is the second person to be arrested in this case. Earlier, on August 12, the agency apprehended S. Palal Thadou Kuki, who is currently in judicial custody. The NIA produced Haokip before the Special NIA Court-II in Imphal on September 25, after which he was remanded to 12 days of police custody.
In a separate case, the agency also arrested two men from Churachandpur district—44-year-old Jangminlun Singson and 21-year-old Thangjoel Haokip—for their alleged roles in an ambush on the convoy of Manipur’s former Chief Minister, Nongthombam Biren Singh. The ambush took place on June 10, 2024, near K. Sinam village in Kangpokpi district. Two other accused in the ambush case had been arrested earlier.
What’s next
The NIA said its investigation into the IMK-JMB module is continuing, with efforts underway to trace and apprehend the 10 absconding accused and to identify the full extent of the network’s Indian footprint. The agency’s parallel investigations in Manipur are focused on establishing the broader conspiracy behind the IED attack and the convoy ambush, and on securing further custodial interrogations and evidence.
Significance
The arrests underscore the NIA’s continuing focus on cross-border extremist networks and alleged attempts to radicalise youth through encrypted online platforms. With suspects detained across three States and key figures still at large, the investigations are expected to remain active as authorities pursue links between online propaganda, indoctrination efforts, and on-ground mobilisation.
