Three persons with alleged "ideological leaning" towards the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed were arrested here last night for planning terror strikes in different parts of the national capital.
The three identified as Sajid Ahmad, Sameer Ahmed and Shakir Ansari were arrested while fabricating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), official sources said.
Their movement was being continuously monitored by the central intelligence agencies and special cell of the Delhi Police for last one year, sources said, adding the trio had got indoctrinated through the Internet.
While Sajid and Sameer hail from Delhi, Ansari is a resident of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh. They were produced before a court which remanded them in 10 days' police custody.
The three had been learning to put together IEDs over the past fortnight and last night Sajjid, the alleged kingpin of the group, got injured while making the explosive device.
His left hand was damaged when it went off accidentally, prompting the police to swing into action and arrest them.
According to the sources, the three had an ideological leaning towards the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group headed by Maulana Masood Azhar, who is wanted by India in connection with 2001 Parliament attack case and the terror strike on Pathankot IAF base in January this year.
Besides arresting these three, police and other security agencies have detained nearly a dozen people for questioning, the sources said.
(REOPENS DEL 33)
Delhi Police's Special Cell has recovered 11 batteries, two timer devices, three pipes and over 250 grams of suspected explosive substance from the trio's possession. They had got trained in making IEDs through online sources, Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Arvind Deep said.
He said, the troika's link with Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit was traced through "technical input". Shakir, he claimed, was to leave for Pakistan soon and was in touch with a relative of Maulana Masood Azhar.
During the interrogation, they were claimed to have told police that they had planned serial strikes in popular markets in the city and places with high footfall, Deep said. He said their source of finance and explosives is yet to be ascertained.
The trio and a few detained by the police are members of a Whatsapp group within which they allegedly shared details about the terror outfit and on December 20 they had organised a meeting at Sajid's east Delhi residence where "views of the outfit were propagated", Deep said.
The three have been arrested under provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. Special Cell teams are conducting raids and more arrests are likely, Deep added.
Those who have been detained for questioning at the Special Cell office in Lodhi Colony here includes a youth, who works as manager at the workshop of an automobile company. While two of them are residents of Loni in Ghaziabad, others are from east Delhi's Chand Bagh locality, sources said.
The explosive substance has been sent for forensic examination. Further investigation is underway, police said.
