A foreign made 7.65 mm pistol, seven rounds of ammunition and other gadgets were seized from the arrested, City Police Commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji told reporters along with DGP L R Pachau.
The arrested included a journalist of an English daily, police sources said.
Mirji said all the arrests were made by CCB police yesterday in Hubli in north Karnataka and Bangalore after gathering intelligence inputs for several days.
He denied reports about involvement of Uttar Pradesh police in the operation.
"It was a meticolously planned operation by CCB. The arrested had links with banned outfits like LeT and HUJI", Mirji said but refused to share further details remarking "in the interest of the security, case and investigations no more details can be shared at this stage".
The arrested, all aged below 30, planned to target MPs, MLAs and prominent journalists, he said.
He said cases under IPC sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 307 (attempt to murder), 379 (theft) and under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and Arms Act have been registered against the arrested.
Initial reports had said the four suspected Indian Mujahiddin activists involved in the 2010 Chinnaswamy stadium blast case were picked up by police.
