The special cell of the Delhi Police nabbed five suspected ISIS operatives from four different States, who were allegedly hatching a “Khilafat model” plan to recruit youngsters.
According to the police, the accused were part of the sleeper module of the terror organisation and were tasked with making bombs, specialise in manufacturing chemical weapons, procuring weapons and increasing the strength of the organisation.
According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha, the suspects were allegedly radicalised through social media by a Pakistan-based handler. “Their plan was two-fold. First, they had to form a Khilafat-style group. They have their own team, which is called Lashkar, and after that, they had to do jihad, Ghazwa-e-Hind type, on the basis of their distorted concept of understanding of Islam. Plus, some targeted killings were to be tasked to them,” he said.
Those arrested have been identified as Ashar Danish alias Ashrar Qureshi (23), an English honours graduate from Ranchi; Aftab Qureshi and Sufiyan Abubakar, both from Mumbai; Mohammad Huzaifa from Telangana; and Kamran Qureshi from Madhya Pradesh.
“Sulphur powder, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, sodium bicarbonate, pH weighing checker, ball bearings and equipment that can be used for making Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), wires, circuits, diodes, motherboards, laptops and mobile phones, plus weapons and cartridges have been found from them,” Kushwaha added.
This comes after the special cell of the Delhi Police launched raids across the country and detained about a dozen suspects from Delhi, Ranchi and other places in coordinated raids on Tuesday and Wednesday after receiving specific
intelligence from Central agencies.
Additional CP Kushwaha said, “The module was headed by Danish, who coordinated with other members and executed tasks on behalf of the handler, who was known by code names such as CEO, Gazba and Professor.
Other two suspects Aftab Qureshi and Sufiyan Abubakar were assigned for the task of targeted killing Kushwaha said the operation began with the arrest of Aftab and Sufiyan near Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi. The accused were in the city to procure weapons from a Mewat-based man and had been trying to leave when they were apprehended. “Our teams had been monitoring their activities for the last six months. Two suspects were arrested when they were planning to leave Delhi,” said Kushwaha.
“During the operation, we detained 11 people, who are being questioned. Of this, five people have already been arrested. They were arrested on Wednesday and will be further taken on police remand so that they can be interrogated,” Kushwaha said.
Preliminary probe suggests that the module is a new network with no links to previously busted terror organisations. The Pakistan-based handler used social media platforms exclusively for communication and recruitment, he added. Police said the accused are being interrogated to ascertain their wider network, sources of funding and potential targets. The arrests have averted a major terror strike in the country, they said.
Delhi Police filed an FIR under offences of promoting propaganda to create enmity between communities, disturbing religious harmony, and possessing illegal weapons. Police said that the central agencies are analysing the digital devices seized from the suspects to track their contacts and possible international links.