NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough for the Indian security forces, ISIS India head and one of his associates were arrested in Assam’s Dhubri district on Wednesday after they crossed over from Bangladesh. In a statement, Assam Police chief public relations officer Pranabjyoti Goswami said they were apprehended from the Dharmasala area by the Special Task Force (STF) following a tip-off. They were later brought to the STF office in Guwahati, he added.

“The identity of both of them was ascertained and it is found that accused Haris Farooqi, alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi of Chakrata, Dehradun, is the head of ISIS in India,” he added. His associate Anurag Singh, alias Rehan of Panipat, got converted to Islam, while his wife is a Bangladeshi national, the CPRO said.

“Both of them are highly indoctrinated and motivated leaders/members of ISIS in India. They had furthered the cause of ISIS in India through conspiracies to carry out recruitment, terror funding and terror acts by means of IEDs at several places across India,” the statement said.

The police official said several cases are pending against them at NIA, Delhi, ATS and Lucknow among other places. “STF, Assam, will hand over the accused to NIA for taking up further legal actions against these fugitives,” he added.