NIA busts IS-inspired module, arrests 10 people

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday claimed to have cracked an Islamic State (IS) module with the arrest of ten people, who allegedly were planning to target prominent politicians and vital installations through remote-controlled blasts and suicide attacks.

The members of the IS-inspired module 'Harkat ul Harb e Islam', the investigators claimed, were in touch with a "foreign mastermind" whose identity is yet to be established.

Explosives, country-made rocket launcher, 100 mobiles, 135 SIM cards, laptops and memory cards and Rs 7.5 lakh in cash were recovered during the searches.

A woman suspect is being questioned while the ringleader Mufti Sohail, who hails from Delhi, is a 'moulavi' in a mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha.

The arrests and busting of the racket came after searches in 17 locations in Delhi's Seelampur locality as well as in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, Amroha, Hapur districts.

"We have questioned 16 suspects and arrested ten of them," NIA Inspector General Alok Mittal told reporters. Explosives, country-made rocket launcher, 100 mobiles, 135 SIM cards, laptops and memory cards and Rs 7.5 lakh in cash were recovered during the searches.

"They wanted to explode remote-controlled bombs and conduct fidayeen attacks. They even attempted to make a bulletproof jacket," he said.

Sources said five of the 10 people arrested belonged to Delhi while the rest belonged to Uttar Pradesh. In the national capital, the operation was carried with the help of Delhi Police's Special Cell while in UP, it was conducted with the assistance of Anti-Terrorist Squad.

Officials said the arrested people include a civil engineering student in Noida, a 3rd year BA student, an auto-rickshaw driver, a welding shop owner and another who is into garments business.

They said module was largely self-funded while some of the members allegedly stole gold from their homes and sold it to raise funds. The members also used WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate with each other.

The arrested youth were "highly radicalised" and investigators got a hint about the module after Sohail became active three-four months ago.