Delhi Terrorists Arrest: A joint team of Central agencies and the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Thursday busted a Pakistan handler-backed pan-India terror module, and arrested five operatives after coordinated raids in multiple states, including Delhi, Telangana, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Two people, originally residents of Mumbai, have been arrested from Delhi and one each from Jharkhand, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.
The five accused, all between 20 and 26 years of age, have been identified as Aftab Ansari and Sufiyan Abubakar — arrested from Delhi, Ashar Danish — arrested from Jharkhand’s Ranchi, Kamran Qureshi — arrested from MP’s Rajgarh and Huzaifa — arrested from Nizamabad in Telangana.
According to Special Cell Additional CP Pramod Singh Kushwaha, the raids were carried out after intelligence inputs indicated that a module was planning a major terror attack in the country. Preliminary investigation suggests that the module was tasked to adopt a “Khilafat model” and was preparing for a large-scale attack. Central agencies are now analysing the digital devices seized from them to track their contacts and possible international links.
Incriminating Material Seized From Arrested Accused:
According to Pramod Singh Khushwaha, weapons, chemicals, and materials used in the making of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have been recovered from the five arrested accused. The materials seized from the accused include:
– Sulphur Powder
– Sulphuric Acid
– Nitric Acid
– Hydrochloric Acid
– Sodium Bicarbonate
pH Weighing Checker
– Ball Bearings
– Equipment used for making IEDs
– Strip Wires
– Circuit
– Diodes And Copper
– Motherboards
– Laptops and Mobile Phones
Planning To Adopt The Khilafat Model:
Special Cell Additional CP Pramod Singh Kushwaha further stated that the accused were in touch with a Pakistan-based handler who was giving them tasks. The initial probe found that the Pakistan handler had tasked the accused to adopt a “Khilafat model”, for which the accused had to first acquire a place and build a team of “many” people, who would carry out chemical and IED attacks in India.
The probe found that Danish — arrested from Jharkhand — was the leader of the module and had an ID “Ghazwa Leader”. Danish has kept his code name as CEO, and a large chunk of seized items were recovered from him. According to the police, Danish was directly in touch with the Pakistan handler and connected the whole group.
Another accused, Aftab Ansari — arrested from Delhi — was tasked with targeted killings and had also acquired weapons for it. However, when he was returning from Delhi after acquiring weapons, Aftab was arrested with his associate, Sufiyan Abubakar. “This was a homegrown operation. So, acquiring weapons, including making IEDs, even cartridges, they were told to prepare on their own,” Kushwaha said.
The agencies are interrogating the accused to find out the roles given to the other accused and their possible links with other suspects active in the country.
