The men, who were planning to use suicide jackets, wanted to target RSS’ Delhi office, and their hit list included crowded markets and security establishments.

New Delhi: Ten alleged operatives of the Islamic State (IS), who are said to have been planning a series of bomb blasts in the capital ahead of Republic Day, have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district.

The operation was jointly conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the UP Police’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS).

A case has been registered a case under sections of criminal conspiracy, attempting to wage war against government of India, explosive substances act and sections of unlawful activities prevention act.

According to sources, the men, from an IS module ‘Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam’ planned to attack the RSS’ Delhi office (Keshav Kunj) in Jhandewalan, and had VVIPs, vital installations, crowded markets and security establishments on their radar.

The NIA also seized a country-made rocket launcher, seven pistols, 25 kg of potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, sulphur and sugar paste, which the men were to use to make explosives. One hundred mobile phones, 135 SIM cards, laptops and memory cards were also recovered.

“This morning NIA, Delhi Police and UP ATS searched 17 locations, including six in Seelampur (Delhi), six in Amroha, Hapur and Meerut, and busted this module, which was in an advanced stage to carry out blasts. We have recovered huge quantities of ammunition along with Rs 7.5 lakh cash from their possession. We are examining the accused and more arrests are likely,” said NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal.

Who are these men?

The main conspirator, Mufti Mohammad Sohail, is a cleric at a madrassa in Amroha.

He was joined in the plan by Anas Yunus, a 24-year-old student of civil engineering at Amity University, Noida, who was instrumental in procuring electrical items, alarm clocks & batteries.

The others include Rashid Zafar Raq (23), who is in the garments business, Amroha welders Saeed (28) and Raees Ahmed (24), BA student Zubair Malik (20) from Delhi’s Jaffrabad, Zaid Malik (22), Saqib Iftekhar (26), who works as an imam at Jama Masjid, autorickshaw driver Mohammad Irshad, and medical shop owner Mohammad Azam from Seelampur.

Of these men, Irshad helped arrange a hideout to keep IEDs and bombs, while Azam helped arrange weapons.

Handler was abroad

According to sources, a handler stationed abroad was managing the movement of the five men, and was in constant touch with Sohail over messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram.

“The men were in touch with an ISIS handler abroad, who was continuously coordinating their meetings, training sessions, and arranging for their logistics sitting outside the country. We have recovered chats and messages that he sent using several channels and have also identified his location,” a source said.

The handler arranged for most of the funds, but two of the accused stole gold jewellery from their homes to arrange for money to buy explosives and other material required for making bombs.

The team, NIA officers said, was constituted by Sohail, who handpicked people for specific roles. All five accused belong to middle-class families.

Suicide jackets, remote controls

The NIA stated that the men were heavily radicalised, and were at advanced stages of carrying out the blasts.

Sources said the men had even started making suicide jackets and remote controls that they planned to use for an attack on the RSS office.

“The plan was to use suicide jackets and bombs that can be triggered using remote controls at crowded places, including marketplaces,” a source said.

“They had procured all the material to make bombs, including chemicals, batteries and 120 alarm clocks. They also shot a video which shows them wiring the bombs, and Sohail can be heard guiding the men on how to do it. They were at a very advanced stage and it appeared that they planned to carry out the attack in the coming few days.”

NIA investigators said the men had been preparing the attack for the past four months, and had been on the agency’s radar for three of those.

The NIA has also detained 10 others, who are being examined. “We have detained 10 persons after we found them to be associated with this operation. The arrests will be made once their role is clear,” an officer said.

 

ThePrint’s YouTube channel is now active and buzzing. Please subscribe here.