New Delhi: The Delhi police on Thursday busted an Al-Qaeda module, arresting 11 people and detaining three others across Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They carried out at least 15 raids in collaboration with the police forces of the involved states after receiving intelligence inputs.
This comes after the Special Cell of the Delhi police had registered a case under Section 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on July 15, following which the anti-terror unit has been gathering information about the suspects, reported PTI.
According to the police, six people were arrested in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi while undergoing weapons training, reported PTI. The arrested individuals are Hasan Ansari, Enamul Ansari, Altaf Ansari, Arshad Khan, Umar Farooq, and Shahbaz Ansari – all residents of Jharkhand. They had been residing in Rajasthan for the past few days, the police said.
Five people were arrested from Ranchi, Jharkhand. They were identified as Ishtiyaq Ahmed, Motiur, Rizwan, Mufti Rahmatullah, and Faizan.
The police also detained three additional individuals from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh for questioning.
The police have recovered one AK-47 rifle, a .38 bore revolver, six live cartridges of .38 bore, 30 live cartridges of .32 bore, and 30 live cartridges for the AK-47 from the raided locations. They also found a dummy Insas rifle, an air rifle, an iron elbow pipe, one hand grenade, a key remote control mechanism, some wires, a 1.5-volt AA battery, a table watch, four ground sheets, a target, a camping tent, and various food items such as biscuits, a packet of chips, and a water bottle.
According to a statement by the Delhi police, the Al-Qaeda module was being led by Dr. Ishtiyaq of Ranchi (Jharkhand), and it was aspiring to declare ‘khilafat’ and execute serious terrorist activities within the country, reported PTI.
There is suspicion that the module was planning to carry out a terror attack in northern India during the upcoming festive season, the police said.
A senior police officer involved in the operations said that the module has been active for the past few months, and its members connected through social media. The official added that the members of the terror module received training, including weapon handling, at various locations, such as the jungles of the Aravalli Hills in Rajasthan.
