Police uncover ‘plot’ to target Delhi

Two suspected members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who were planning to target crowded places in New Delhi, have been arrested on the outskirts of the city.

The police claimed they have seized raw materials for configuring improvised explosive devices and are on the lookout for two other members of the module.

The suspects, whose names have been withheld by the Delhi Police Special Cell, were arrested at Tughlakabad Extension in South Delhi on Tuesday in coordination with the Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir police.

“Explosives, sulphuric acid and other components used in the configuration of IEDs were seized from them. Some memory cards, containing footage of one of the accused undergoing training in some Pakistan-based camp in handling weapons and manufacturing IEDs, were also found in their possession,” said Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta.

But the memory cards did not contain any footage of the accused conducting reconnaissance of any particular place, he said.

The police seized their passports and mobile phones, besides a matrix of codes for deciphering messages sent by their handlers suspected to be based in Pakistan.

Timely catch

“It was a very good and timely catch. With these arrests, we have prevented an imminent terror strike. The militants, in their mid-20s, were planning to target a crowded place. One of them is expert in configuring IEDs, and since the raw materials were made available to them, they could have carried out the attack any time. Both are Indian nationals,” Mr. Gupta said, refusing to divulge the identities of the suspects, arguing that it would hamper further investigations.

They were produced in a city court that remanded them in police custody for 10 days.

Their interrogation revealed that one of them was living in a rented accommodation at Tughlakabad Extension and the other at Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

Special Commissioner of Police P.N. Aggarwal said one of them had gone to Pakistan in December last on a valid visa. He underwent training at a terror camp there and returned in January.

“One or two more arrests are likely,” Mr. Aggarwal said.