Delhi Police Special Cell arrested six operatives, busting a terror module planning petrol bomb attacks in the capital. The plot was allegedly directed by Pakistan-based ISI handler Shahzad Bhatti, with key locations in Delhi already recced.
Interrogation of the six suspected operatives arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell from Delhi and Punjab on Wednesday revealed an alleged conspiracy to carry out petrol bomb attacks at key locations in the national capital on the directions of Pakistan-based alleged ISI handler Shahzad Bhatti, sources said.
According to sources, the accused had allegedly conducted reconnaissance of the New Police Lines in Civil Lines, Anand Vihar Inter-State Bus Terminal (ISBT), a railway station and crowded market areas in Delhi. Videos of these locations were recovered from the mobile phones of the accused during the investigation.
The investigators said the reconnaissance videos were allegedly sent to Bhatti through a banned messaging application.
Details from Intercepted Communications
The Special Cell has also retrieved social media chats exchanged between Bhatti and the arrested accused.
Sources said chats exchanged between Bhatti and accused Danish alias Chand Miyan during the last week of June have surfaced during the investigation. In the conversation, Bhatti allegedly informed Danish that the 'material' would be delivered in the evening and asked him to collect it. He later asked whether the material had been received. Danish allegedly replied that everything had been collected. Bhatti then allegedly instructed him to keep the material ready safely and wait for further instructions.
According to the investigation, the 'material' referred to in the chats was allegedly intended for carrying out petrol bomb attacks in Delhi. The Delhi Police Special Cell had earlier recovered petrol bombs from Vijay Ghat, behind Rajghat, during the investigation.
Terror Module's Structure and Roles
Sources further said the six arrested accused were also in contact with 10 other Pakistan-based individuals allegedly working for Shahzad Bhatti. Investigators are probing the role of these individuals and their alleged involvement in the conspiracy.
According to investigators, Danish alias Chand Miyan was allegedly assigned the responsibility of conducting reconnaissance and planning the attack in Delhi. He was allegedly promised Rs 20000 by Bhatti upon successful execution of the operation. His associate Salman was allegedly tasked with recording the attack on video and sending the footage directly to Shahzad Bhatti. Another accused, Tayyab, a resident of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, allegedly handled the receipt and sale of the weapons consignment. Zubair Khan, a resident of Modinagar in Ghaziabad, allegedly brought the weapons consignment from Amritsar, while Ali Fazal of Meerut was allegedly responsible for selling the weapons. Malkit Singh, a resident of Amritsar, allegedly acted as the key conduit for supplying weapons that were dropped from Pakistan through drones before they were further distributed to other members of the network, sources said.
The six accused were arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell after it busted two alleged modules linked to Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti. The investigation into the larger cross-border network and the role of other Pakistan-based handlers is underway. (ANI)
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