NEW DELHI: A city court rejected the bail plea of five suspected ISIS operatives arrested for allegedly plotting a terror strike during the Ardh Kumbh at Haridwar.
The court denied relief to the accused persons – Akhlaq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Osama alias Adil, Mohammad Azimu Shaan, Mehraj and Mohsin Abraham Sayeed – arrested on January 23 based on specific information by central intelligence agencies on January 19 for allegedly planning to carry out bombings during the ongoing Ardh Kumbh pilgrimage in Haridwar.
The special cell of Delhi police had arrested four self-radicalised Islamic State operatives in Uttarakhand for planning to carry out a series of low-intensity blasts in the Ardh Kumbh mela in Uttarakhand and at some strategic places in New Delhi.
The accused, according to the special cell, were also planning to target the trains bringing pilgrims to the four-month long festival which started earlier this month. The four were Akhlaq-ur-Rehman, Mohammed Osama, Mohammed Azim Shah and Mohamad Mehraj. Later, one of their associate Mohsin Abraham Sayeed was arrested from the Inter State Bus Terminal in the national capital.
All the accused are between 18-22 years of age.
The NIA had told the court that during their custodial interrogation by Delhi Police, the accused had disclosed name codes and mobile numbers of active members, recruiters, sympathizers and motivators of ISIS involved in furtherance of activities of their ideologies using Internet-based communication, Facebook, Skype, telephones, telegram and other means, to lure youths to join the terror organisation.
The bail plea, moved by advocate M S Khan, had claimed that further custody of the accused was not required.
All of them were found to have links with a former Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist who later went to fight for ISIS, the agency had claimed.