Bangladesh-based IMK used Telegram to radicalise youth in WB, Northeast: NIA

Guwahati: The Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), an offshoot of Bangladesh-based terror network Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), used a Telegram group, “Purva Akash”, to radicalise people in West Bengal and the northeastern states, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Tuesday.

The NIA made the statement after arresting 13 accused during searches at 16 locations in Assam, West Bengal and Kerala.

“Investigation revealed the active involvement of the accused in the conspiracy of Imam Mahmuder Kafila (IMK), a manifestation of JMB, to expand the terror outfit's ideology in West Bengal and the north-eastern states of 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 NIA said in a statement.

The arrests were made in connection with a case registered in December 2025, in which 11 others were arrested by the Assam Police from several districts in Assam, West Bengal and Tripura.

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The case was initially registered by the Special Task Force of the Assam Police against 35 accused in connection with an online radicalisation module allegedly operated through the “Purva Akash” Telegram group by Bangladesh-based IMK handlers.

The 11 accused were chargesheeted on June 25 this year and have remained in judicial custody. The NIA subsequently took over the case and filed a chargesheet against them under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act before the NIA Special Court in Guwahati.

“Investigations showed that JMB's senior member Imam Mahmud Habibullah had established IMK to promote the banned outfit's agenda on Indian soil. The investigation further revealed that the accused had conspired to grow the presence of IMK/JMB in India through clandestine meetings, religious indoctrination programmes, circulation of extremist literature, and use of digital platforms for anti-India propaganda. They were promoting allegiance to the leadership of IMK/JMB,” the NIA said.

During the searches, the agency recovered digital devices, including mobile phones, pen drives and memory cards.

Of the 13 accused arrested on Tuesday, eight were from Assam, four from West Bengal and one from Kerala. The NIA said 10 other accused in the case are absconding, including one Indian national and nine Bangladeshi nationals.