10 arrested with huge cache of arms
From Engg student to welders
NEW DELHI, Dec 26: The NIA today busted a suspected ISIS-inspired terror group and arrested 10 suspects, who it said were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts targeting politicians and Government installations in Delhi and other parts of North India.
A locally-made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 112 alarm clocks to be used as timers were recovered from the searches, said National Investigation Agency (NIA) Inspector General Alok Mittal.
“They were planning to make not one but a large number of bombs which is evident from 112 alarm clocks recovered by us,” he said.
The searches were carried out in coordination with Special Cell of Delhi Police and Anti-Terrorism Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police at six places in Jaffrabad, Seelampur in Delhi and 11 places in Uttar Pradesh – six in Amroha, two in Lucknow, two in Hapur and two in Meerut, he said.
The searches and the arrests, including of a ‘mufti’ from Amroha, come a month before Republic Day celebrations on January 26 when security is heightened across India, particularly in the national capital.
“The members were in an advanced stage of preparation. They were just waiting for the successful assembly of bombs and wanted to hit multiple locations using remote controlled IEDs and pipe bombs and carry out Fidayeen attacks using suicide vests when needed,” Mittal said.
The probe agency rounded up 16 persons of the group ‘Harkat ul Harb e Islam’, which loosely translates into war for the cause of Islam, he said.
Of the 16 detained, 10 were arrested – Amroha and five from five from Seelampur and Jaffrabad localities in north-east Delhi – by the NIA, while six are being interrogated. More arrests are likely, Mittal said.
The “highly-radicalised module” of youths in the age group of 20-35 years is completely self-funded and no criminal antecedent of its members had surfaced so far, he said.
Those arrested include the alleged mastermind, 29-year-old Mohammed Suhail, a ‘mufti’, or a Muslim legal expert empowered to give rulings on religious matters, from Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh, an engineering student in a private university in Noida and a third year graduation student in humanities in a university in Delhi as well as two welders, he said.
“It was ascertained that Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath and his associates have mobilised funds and have procured weapons, ammunition and explosive material to prepare IED’s and bombs and they plan to carry out explosions and fidayeen attacks at places of importance in and around Delhi and also target crowded places,” he said.
He added that the agency found a video where Suhail is demonstrating the method to complete a bomb circuit.
The agency recovered 25 kg of explosive material — Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Nitrate, Sulphur etc, he said.
In addition, 12 country-made pistols, 150 rounds of live ammunition, a country-made rocket launcher, 112 alarm clocks, phone circuits, batteries and 51 pipes to be used as bombs were also recovered.
The group had also purchased remote control cars and wireless doorbells to use their circuits in assembling remote controlled improvised explosive devices.
The NIA also recovered steel containers, electric wires, 91 mobile phones, 134 SIM cards, 3 laptops, knife, sword, ISIS-related literature during the searches, he said.
Two brothers — Raees and Saeed — had assembled the rocket launcher and some other weapons in their welding shop, he alleged.
Mittal said the suspects had done a reconnaissance of vital Government installations and planned to target political personalities and other important persons.
All arrested youth are moderately educated barring two — an engineering student and a BA third year student — and are from middle income families.
The agency is also investigating if Suhail or any other member had taken oath of allegiance with the West Asia-based ISIS and whether anyone had visited the area occupied by the terror outfit.
The officials said there was no trail of foreign funding but about Rs 7.5 lakh in cash have been recovered during the searches.
Among the arrested are two brothers — Zaid (20) and Zubair (22) — who were instrumental in arranging batteries, connectors, SIM cards on fake documents and funds for buying bomb-making material, the NIA has alleged.
The two had even stolen gold from their family which was in the range of about Rs 5-7 lakh and sold it in the market to arrange for funds, they said.
According to investigations, the module was founded about 3-4 months ago by Suhail who brought all its members together and indoctrinated them.
The group remained in touch through data-based messaging applications WhatsApp and Telegram to avoid scrutiny of agencies.
Seeing their alarming pace of progress, the central agencies, which had kept the group on surveillance, decided to bust it today.
The NIA had registered a case on December 20 against Suhail and other members.
The agency believes the module has foreign-based handler(s) but their identity and location is still being probed.
The officials refused to comment on media reports citing inputs from other agencies involved in the operation that RSS headquarters and Delhi Police headquarters were also on the hit list.
The group comprises youths in the 20-35 age group with moderate education (barring two), hailing from middle income group families and radicalised by an Amroha-based Mufti, who is also the alleged mastermind and founder of ‘Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam’, which can be loosely translated as ‘war for the cause of Islam’, the NIA has alleged.
Following are their brief profiles and roles as alleged by the NIA:
* Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath (29) the alleged founder of the group is a native of Amroha in West Uttar Pradesh where he works as a Mufti in a madrasa at Hakim Mahtab Uddin Hashmi Road. Presently residing in Jaffrabad in North East Delhi, he allegedly founded the group three-four months back and indoctrinated its members using on-line resources linked to the ISIS. A video has been seized by the agency where Suhail can be heard telling how to assemble bomb using a circuit.
It is alleged that he had tasked other team members to procure arms, explosives and other accessories to prepare remote-controlled bombs and pipe-bombs.
* Anas Yunus (24) is a resident of Jaffrabad. He is a student of Civil Engineering at a private university in Noida. He procured electrical items, alarm clocks and batteries etc to be used in assembling bombs in furtherance of their terror conspiracy.
* Rashid Zafar Raq alias Zafar (23) is also a resident of Jaffrabad. He is into garments business and was part of the group.
* Saeed alias Sayeed (28) a resident of Saidapur Imma, Amroha, runs welding shop in Amroha where some pistols and rocket launcher were fabricated.
* Saeed’s brother Raees Ahmad a resident of Saidapur Imma, Amroha, UP. He owns a welding shop at Islam Nagar, Near Idgah, Amroha, Uttar Pradesh. The brothers had allegedly procured 25 kilogram of explosive material and gun powder for preparing IEDs and pipe bombs and were instrumental in fabricating a rocket launcher to carry out terrorist attacks.
* Zubair Malik (20) is a resident of Jaffrabad. He is a student of BA 3rd year at a University in Delhi.
* Zubair’s brother Zaid (22) is a resident of Jaffrabad. Both the brothers were part of the terror conspiracy and were instrumental in procuring batteries, connectors, SIM cards (135 recovered during searches) on fake documents and mobilising funds for buying bomb-making material. Both allegedly stole family gold to arrange for money.
* Saqib Iftekar (26) is a resident of Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. He works as an Imam in Jama Masjid, Baksar, Uttar Pradesh and helped Mohammed Suhail in procuring weapons. The agency has recovered 12 pistols, 150 rounds of live ammunition, knives and swords during searches.
* Mohammed Irshad (in late 20s) is a resident of Mohalla Qazi Zada, Amroha. An auto-rickshaw driver who was helping Mohammed Suhail in arranging a hideout for keeping the material for making IEDs and bombs. The agency has recovered 25 kg of explosive material, such as Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Nitrate, Sulphur, Sugar material paste, 112 alarm clocks, mobile phone circuits, batteries, 51 pipes, remote control toys, wireless digital doorbell, steel containers, electric wires.
*Mohammed Azam (35) is a resident of Chauhan Bazar, Delhi. He runs a medical shop in Seelampur, Shahdara, Delhi and helped Mohammed Suhail arrange weapons.
“They (other agencies) can say whatever they feel like. But being the investigating agency of this case…We cannot make any such claim unless we have some corroborative material to support it,” a senior NIA officer said requesting anonymity. (PTI)
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