With the arrest of four people with suspected ISIS links from Manglour area in Uttarakhand, the Delhi Police on Wednesday claimed to have unearthed a terror plot to target the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, particularly trains heading there and some strategic locations in the national Capital. Those arrested have been booked under provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The suspects, identified as Akhlaq ur-Rehman, Mohammed Osama, Mohammed Azim Shah and Mehroz were arrested from Manglour town in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district on Tuesday and were produced in a court on Wednesday which further sent them to 15 days police custody. Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Arvind Deep said. “The national Capital faces threat until the entire module is busted.”
“The four suspects were tracked down with inputs from a Central intelligence agency. They had planned to carry out terror attacks at the Ardh Kumbh mela, trains heading towards Haridwar passing through Roorkie and some strategic locations in Delhi,” Deep said.
One of the suspects, Akhlaq, is also being questioned in connection with the attacks at Pathankot. Meanwhile, their involvement in all possible networks, including the AuT-ISIS, is being verified, the source said.
Special Commissioner Arvind Deep refused to comment on the outfit which the suspects belong to but said, “The national Capital faces threat until the entire module is busted.”
Delhi was put on high alert and security was stepped up earlier this month after the Special Cell received input about the presence of some Jaish-e-Mohammed key members in the city two days after the attack at Pathankot.
On Monday, two persons with suspected al-Qaeda links were detained from Mewat in Haryana. However, the Delhi Police Special Cell so far claimed to have arrested only one. Meanwhile, senior officials have also reviewed the security on Wednesday in view of upcoming Republic Day celebrations, an official added.
They were under the radar of security agencies after their suspicious online activities were detected about a few months ago. The youths used to regularly visit ISIS-supported websites, Facebook group and were in regular touch with some supporters of the terror group through WhatsApp, Government officials said.
The suspects were in touch with motivators supposedly located in ISIS territory in Iraq-Syria, and hence they came under the surveillance of security agencies.