A top operative of the lashkar-e-Tayyeba — allegedly involved in indoctrination and recruitment of youths, planning and executing terror strikes across the country — was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) SN Shrivastav confirmed his arrest.
According to sources, a possible terror strike was being planned in the Capital.
Identified as Abdul Subhan, the leT operative was arrested from Sarai Kale Khan bus-stand last week, and was subjected to interrogation during which he admitted ‘brainwashing’ youths from Rajasthan, Haryana and Bihar. Subhan’s name had surfaced earlier, during the probe and questioning of two criminals — Mohammad Shahid and Qari Rashid (residents of Mewat district in Haryana) — who named Subhan as their prime motivator, who conducted recruitment on behalf of lashkar-e-Tayyeba, the sources said. It was found that, in 2013 a known lashkar-e-Tayyeba terrorist from Pakistan had been in talking to some people in Rajasthan and Haryana and a conspiracy to commit a terrorist strike in the national Capital was being discussed.
The caller of this number had been frequenting Delhi, after which a massive manhunt was launched, which led to the arrest of Subhan (42), who hails from village Gumat Bihari in Mewat district. His arrest helped the Delhi Police and the Central security agencies to unravel the designs of the terror outfit planning to carry out strikes in Delhi and other parts of the country. Subhan is not a new name in the terror history of the country. He was earlier arrested for carrying a consignment of RDX, AK-56 rifles, pistols, detonators, timers and ammunitions in a truck to Patan district in Gujarat. He was subsequently arrested by the CBI officials and sentenced by a court to 10 years in jail. However, his good behaviour led to his release in 2010 from Sabarmati jail after completing eight years in prison. Following his release, he allegedly became all the more dangerous. He allegedly managed to motivate and recruit like-
minded persons from his region at the behest of his Pakistan-based mentors of leT.
Subhan visited mosques and religious congregations in his region and introduce his identity as a hard core leT terrorist and successfully induct the susceptible into the terror outfit, sources alleged.