New Delhi, February 22 – Security agencies have foiled a major terror plot backed by the ISI, following the arrest of eight individuals from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
The arrested individuals are linked to terror groups based in Bangladesh and were being funded by the ISI, security agencies have learned.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Mizanur Rahman, Mohammed Shabat, Umar, Mohammed Litan, Mohammed Shahid, and Mohammed Ujjal.
The arrests were made from a garment factory in the Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. One of the arrested individuals is a Bangladeshi national, the police said.
The suspects arrested by the Tamil Nadu police are being handed over to the Delhi Police for further investigation. The preliminary investigation revealed that these individuals were planning attacks in various parts of India.
The arrests come in the context of intelligence agencies warning that the ISI-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba is in the process of establishing local modules within the country to carry out a series of attacks.
Another alert indicated that Lashkar-e-Taiba was planning an attack near the Red Fort. Following the arrests, the police recovered mobile phones and SIM cards.
The accused individuals had been posting content on social media in support of terror groups based in Pakistan. All the arrested individuals had concealed their identities and were working at a garment factory. They used fake Aadhaar cards, the police said. During the raids, the police recovered eight mobile phones and 16 SIM cards.
In an effort to help establish local modules for the ISI-backed groups, these individuals were actively conducting reconnaissance activities in various cities.
During the AI Summit, four of the accused had travelled to Delhi and put up posters advocating for a "Free Kashmir." Following this, they returned to Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the police said.
The police said that the accused individuals communicated via social media. The Delhi Police are set to question them about their links to terror groups based in Bangladesh and their connection with the ISI. Since the last couple of months, the ISI has been plotting attacks in India. This is part of the ISI's strategy to establish local modules so that foreign involvement can be avoided.
The Pakistani terrorists stationed at the launch pads across the India-Pakistan border have been finding it difficult to infiltrate. The ISI feels that to overcome this, it would be better to establish local modules within India. Further, Pakistan can also have the deniability factor if blasts are carried out within India with the help of locals, an official said.
Another alert by the intelligence agencies speaks about a plot to target temples in North India. The Delhi Police would question these accused individuals about this plot. The key information that the police will try to source is which are the places that they have carried out reconnaissance.
The plot to target temples has been on the anvil for several months. The aim is to carry out attacks on temples and then incite communal tensions, another official said. This plot is being overseen by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The terror group has been scouting for recruits and has even activated some of its agents within the country to carry out this activity. Further, the plot was foiled at a time when the agencies have been warning that a conspiracy is being hatched in Bangladesh to carry out terror attacks ahead of the West Bengal elections.
