3 'ISIS-inspired' youth held in Delhi on terror charges

Three "IS-inspired" youths from Assam were arrested by police here on Monday.

The police said that they have averted a terror strike at a local carnival in Assam's Goalpara district and the plans to carry out 'lone-wolf' stabbing attacks before the attempt of blasts in the capital.

The trio was allegedly planning to plant IED at the Raas mela festival on Monday evening, the last day of the annual 14-day festival in Dudhnoi, Goalpara.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said that Mukadir Islam, Ranjeet Ali and Jameel Luit — all in their early twenties— were arrested after a joint operation with the Assam Police on Sunday.

Ranjeet was working at a fish trading centre, Mukadir as a driver and Zameel worked as a supervisor at an Aadhaar Enrollment Centre.

Police recovered an IED, a kg of explosives and IED raw materials, he said adding that the trio learnt to make IEDs by watching "Do It Yourself" videos.

He said that the three were inspired by the IS module besides planning to conduct terror strikes in Delhi. The trio were classmates and had also radicalised some people in Delhi.

Kushwaha said that Assam could have been the trial run and Delhi could have been the next target if that blast was successful. Investigators claimed that the three youth were in touch with some radicalised groups in the capital.

"We are investigating if they had visited Delhi, done any recces or decided upon a place. The men said the IED to conduct blasts in Delhi had been collected," Kushwah said.