In a major counter-terrorism operation, the Delhi Police in coordination with Central agencies arrested 5 ISIS-linked terrorists during a raid conducted late night. These terrorists have been arrested from different states. Two have been arrested from Delhi, one from Madhya Pradesh, one from Hyderabad and one from Ranchi. Police have also recovered some parts used in the making of IED. The raids were conducted across four to five states, with nearly eight suspects interrogated so far.
Two of the terrorists have been identified as Aaftab and Sufiyan, and designated as experts in making explosives.
ANI quoting sources stated that accused were in touch with handlers based in Pakistan through multiple social media accounts, which are now being verified.
According to investigators, the group’s key member, Ashraf Danish, was operating the module from India while maintaining contact with Pakistan-based individuals via encrypted and social media platforms. The probe revealed that the suspects used these channels to radicalise youth in India and recruit them into their network. Furthermore, the group also ran multiple online groups aimed at spreading communal hatred and disturbing religious harmony.
The Special Cell has recovered a country-made pistol, live ammunition, chemicals including hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulphur powder, copper sheets, ball bearings, strip wires, electronic circuits, laptops, mobile phones, and cash from Danish’s possession. Officials suspect these materials were meant for making weapons and explosives.
Additional CP Of The Special Cell On Arrests
Speaking on the arrests made by Delhi Police, Pramod Singh Kushwaha, Additional CP of the Special Cell, said, “Five people have been arrested, and this was a Pakistan handler-backed pan-India terror module. Among the people who have been arrested, one is from Jharkhand, two from Delhi, who were basically residents of Mumbai, one is from Telangana and one is from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh. Sulphur powder, Sulphuric acid, nitric acid, sodium bicarbonate, pH weighing checker, ball bearings and equipment which can be used for making an IED, wires, motherboards, laptops and mobile phones plus weapons and cartridges have been found from them. The Pak handler who was tasking them, that task was basically to adopt a Khilafat model. They had to acquire a place and prepare a team of many people. The leader of the team had an ID Ghazwa Leader and he kept his code name as CEO.”
He added, “The central character in this was Danish. All five people who were arrested are young boys between 20 to 26 years of age. Danish is from Jharkhand; major recovery has been made from him. He was in touch with the handler of Pakistan and he had connected the whole group. He had this Ghazwa leader ID and he was called the CEO. The other character with him was Aftab Ansari. He lives near Mumbai and is a resident of Thane district. His task was targeted killing. For which he had acquired weapons from somewhere and when he was about to return from Delhi after acquiring weapons, he and his associate, Sufiyan Abubakar, were arrested. One of their associates, Kamran Qureshi, has been arrested from Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, and a fifth man, Huzaifa, has been arrested from Nizamabad, Telangana…This was a homegrown operation. So, acquiring weapons, including making IED, even cartridges, they were told to prepare on their own. Some incriminating drawings have also been found from them…”
