NEW DELHI: In a joint operation with state police and central agencies, the Delhi Police’s special cell has busted a Pak handler–backed pan-India terror module and arrested five people from different states through multiple raids. Two of them were planning to purchase land as a base to initiate recruitment and training of other members.
The accused have been identified as Ashhar Danish (23), a resident of Bokaro in Jharkhand, Aaftab Qureshi (25), Sufiyan Abubakar Khan (20), residents of Mumbra, Mohammed Huzaif Yaman (20), a resident of Telangana, and Kamran Qureshi alias Samar Khan (26), a resident of Rajgarh in MP, they said.
Acting on a tip-off, a terror module with operational footprints in Delhi, Ranchi, Thane, Nizamabad and Rajgarh was identified. “The accused possessed significant knowledge about preparing gunpowder and fabricating IEDs. Some of them expressed the will to sacrifice their lives in pursuit of establishing a caliphate in India under the concept of Gazwa-e-Hind,” a senior police officer said. It was further revealed that Danish, one of the primary accused was attempting to procure weapons from Delhi/NCR and chemical substances from online platforms.
On Tuesday near Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station Qureshi and Sufiyan were intercepted while carrying two semi-automatic pistols, along with 15 live cartridges. On Wednesday, joint raids were carried out in Ranchi, Thane, Bengaluru, Nizamabad, and Rajgarh and Danish was arrested from Ranchi.
IED-making components and chemical substances were recovered from his rented residence. He admitted that he had procured arms and explosives in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy to establish caliphate in India, the Additional Commissioner of Police (special cell) Pramod Kushwah said. Danish stated that he was receiving instructions from a Pakistan- based handler and was in constant communication with other members of the module.
Later, Yaman was arrested from Nizamabad who disclosed his involvement in experiments related to manufacturing arms and ammunition under the guidance of Danish. Police also arrested Kamran from Rajgarh, Kushwah stated. Three pistols, 16 live cartridges, copper sheets, steel hollow pipes, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, sodium bicarbonate, sulphur powder, pH value checker, ball bearings, weighing machine, `10,500 cash etc., were recovered.
Danish, a post-graduate in English from Ranchi, began listening to lectures of professor Israr Ahmad and adopted radical beliefs. He came across Aaftab Qureshi and Izhar-Ul-Haq on social media, who shared similar ideology. He created a group and added around 40 people, where discussions centered on establishing a caliphate, Kushwah said. He created several groups using multiple social media IDs, posing as a professor, or an NGO operator to evade surveillance. Through these accounts, he exchanged information in encrypted messages.