Guwahati

After the arrest of several cadres of 'jihadis' and busting of several modules of Al-Qaeda in Assam in the past few months, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said the government is now preparing Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for new Imams who are coming to the state from outside.

Interacting with the media, the Chief Minister said that under the proposed SOP, people would be requested to inform the police soon after any Imam or preacher comes to their mosque of madrasa for religious purpose or teaching.

Urging the people, especially those of the Muslim community, to inform the police if they witness a stranger in their locality serving as the Imam of a mosque or teacher of a madrassa, Sarma said that the police would verify their antecedents.

"This is (informing the police about the Imam) not mandatory for the local Imam," he said.

Claiming that the Muslim community in Assam has been helping the authorities to capture the 'jihadis', Sarma, who also holds the Home portfolio, said that the government is preparing a portal to register the Imams coming from outside.

The Assam government has already closed 800 government-run madrassas last year.

All government-run madrassas in Assam were abolished and over 620 such institutions converted into general schools from April 1 last year.

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"The number of madrassas does not automatically signify the number of 'jihadis'. Our objection is only against unfamiliar teachers and Imams. They are using some madrassas as their shelter and we must find those madrassas," he said.