New Delhi: The NIA on Wednesday busted a suspected ISIS-inspired terror group and arrested 10 suspects, who it said, were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts targeting politicians and government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India.
A locally-made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 100 alarm clocks — to be used as timers — were recovered from the searches, said National Investigation Agency (NIA) inspector general Alok Mittal.
The searches were carried out in coordination with Special Cell of Delhi Police and ATS of Uttar Pradesh Police at six places in Jaffrabad, Seelampur in Delhi, and 11 places in Uttar Pradesh (six in Amroha, two in Lucknow, two in Hapur and one in Meerut), he said.
The searches and the arrests, including of a ‘mufti’ from Amroha, come a month before Republic Day celebrations on January 26 when security is heightened across India, particularly in the national capital.
The probe agency rounded up 16 persons of the group ‘Harkat-ul-Harb-e Islam’, which loosely translates into ‘war for the cause of Islam’, he said.
Of the 16 detained, 10 were arrested by the NIA, while six are being interrogated. More arrests are likely, Mr Mittal said. Five were arrested from Amroha and five from Seelampur and Jaffrabad localities in north-east Delhi, he said.
The “highly-radicalised module” of youths in the age group of 20 and 35 years is completely self-funded and no criminal antecedent of its members had surfaced so far in the investigation, he said.
“The members were in advanced stage of preparation. They were just waiting for the successful assembly of bombs and wanted to hit multiple locations using remote controlled IEDs and pipe bombs and carry out fidayeen attacks using suicide vests,” Mittal said. Those arrested include the alleged mastermind, 29-year Mohammed Suhail, a ‘mufti’, or a Muslim legal expert empowered to give rulings on religious matters, from Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh, an engineering student in a private university in Noida and a third year graduation student in humanities as well as two welders, he said.
“It was ascertained that Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath and his associates have mobilised funds and have procured weapons, ammunition and explosive material to prepare IED and bombs and they plan to carry out explosions and fidayeen attacks at places of importance in and around Delhi and also target crowded places,” he said.
