A nationwide operation conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with the local police of Karnataka, Telangana, and Mumbai has resulted in a crackdown on a suspected Islamic State (ISIS)-linked cell. Raids were conducted in Hyderabad, parts of Maharashtra, western UP, West Bengal and Assam.
The suspects are believed to have been planning simultaneous bomb blasts across the country.
NIA sources told The Quint that 5 suspects have been arrested on Friday – 2 from Hyderabad, 1 from Bangalore, 1 from Mumbai, and 1 from Mangalore.
Nine others from across the country have also been detained by NIA.
Sources said after initial interrogations, the NIA recovered suspicious material from the four detained persons in Hyderabad. Detonators, maps and a metal detector were recovered after a raid.
The suspects detained in Hyderabad will be brought to Delhi by the NIA.
A joint operation by the NIA and the Karnataka Police detained suspects from Bajpe and Tumkur in Karnataka. On scrutinising their bank account details, the investigators found that foreign transactions were made, sources in the Karnataka Police said. The detained are suspected to have been associated with the ISIS, as was found through their email and call records, according to the same sources.
Another suspect was detained in a joint operation by Mumbai Police’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and the NIA in Mumbra, Mumbai.
Terror Alert in Delhi
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has issued a terror alert after a white Alto taxi (licence number HP 01D 2440) that was hired in Pathankot has now gone missing and the driver found killed. It has been learned that three unknown people hired the car in Pathankot.
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