NEW DELHI: Delhi Police has busted a suspected ISIS module and arrested its two alleged operatives from Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. The module was planning terror attacks in Delhi during the ongoing festive season.
It also ran social-media channels to recruit youth by circulating edited jihadi videos, officials said on Thursday. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Adnan Khan alias Abu Muharib (19), a resident of Sadiq Nagar, and Adnan Khan alias Abu Mohammad (20), a resident of Bhopal in MP.
Mohammad Adnan has admitted to taking the Bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) to the current ISIS caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, through a Syria-based handler.
The Bay’ah was recorded on video while the suspect was dressed in ISIS attire. They had also conducted a recce in South Delhi’s mall and a public park. Photos of places from where they would procure the material have also been recovered.
According to the police and Intelligence, developed over a period of time, revealed the existence of an interstate module affiliated with ISIS. The module was disseminating jihadi videos on social media and had progressed to an advanced stage of planning attacks on crowded locations in Delhi during the festive season.
A raid was conducted in Sadiq Nagar in coordination with central agencies on October 16, and one of the key suspects, Mohammad Adnan, was detained on the road near his residence.
He made significant disclosures, including that he had been in contact with an individual from Bhopal via social media. The Bhopal-based suspect regularly sent radical jihadi videos and instructed him to edit and disseminate them.
Both suspects allegedly communicated with a Syria-based ISIS handler identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi, Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.
Mohammad Adnan admitted to recording his video taking the Bay'ah for ISIS and sending it to his foreign handler. He further admitted to swearing allegiance to the ISIS Caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
During a search of his residence, investigators recovered three mobile phones containing incriminating ISIS material, images and manuals detailing remote detonation systems, instructions on making plastic bombs and Molotov cocktails, a pen drive, hard disks, an ISIS flag, the clothing used during the Bayʿah, and a timer clock intended for use in an IED, police said.
On October 18, Adnan Khan was arrested from Karond in Bhopal in connection with the present case in coordination with MP Police (Bhopal ATS).
He stated that he had been radicalised after consuming jihadi content online and had posted threatening material on his Instagram channel, including a post threatening an Additional Session Judge after the judge ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi.
He was previously arrested by the UP anti-terror squad (ATS) under relevant sections of IPC and UAPA at ATS Thana, Gomti Nagar.
After securing bail in that matter, he allegedly resumed extremist activity by creating channels on YouTube, Instagram and other platforms to post extremist material and recruit like-minded individuals.
He also admitted to contacts with the Syrian-based handler, Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi, Kushwah said.
According to their own admissions, following recruitment by ISIS, the suspects were initially assigned propaganda duties: selecting, editing, and posting radical videos in short-form formats (reels) to radicalise and recruit vulnerable youth.
Under instructions from their foreign handler, the Bhopal suspect selected extreme jihadi videos. Adnan from Delhi edited them (adding provocative music/voiceovers), and an associate added captions.
They established multiple channels and pages on platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. These channels repeatedly resurfaced after bans and continued to post the same radical content.
Subsequently, the conspirators shifted from propaganda to operational planning. Following directions from their Syria-based handler, both began procuring materials to construct IEDs intended for use in crowded locations in Delhi during the festive season.
Mohammad Adnan reported that he began following radical pages on Instagram and joined a group, initially comprising 25 to 30 members. He also communicated with the Syria-based handler al-Qureshi, who provided videos, images, and PDFs relating to ISIS.
Influenced by these materials and contacts, he pledged allegiance (Bayʿah) to the ISIS Caliph.
Khan is currently pursuing chartered accountancy under the mentorship of a person in Eidgah, Bhopal. After class 12, he began following jihadi pages and channels and was influenced by ISIS ideology.
"Around seven to eight months before his arrest, he connected with Mohammad and created multiple Instagram channels where they conducted Dawat -- online calls aimed at recruiting individuals to their extremist cause," Kushwah added.
