The nine men arrested by the NIA.
NIA investigators said they had found pipes, cables, switches and bolts intended to be used as shrapnel in searches, along with jihadist literature, in searches directed at the homes of the nine men arrested.
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- Last update: September 19, 2020 4:23 PM IST
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Nine men detained by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Friday planned to travel to New Delhi and Kashmir to receive a cache of weapons promised to them by an al-Qaeda commander in Pakistan, sources familiar with the investigation told News18. Sources said the men had already gathered aluminum powder and potassium perchlorate, used in commercial fireworks, to make an improvised explosive device.
“The men had been told to turn off their mobile phones before leaving their homes in West Bengal and Kerala,” said a senior official. “We would have been in the dark and we had to arrest them to prevent any possibility of a tragic outcome.”
NIA investigators said they had found pipes, cables, switches and bolts intended to be used as shrapnel in searches, along with jihadist literature, in searches directed at the homes of the nine men arrested.
News18 was unable to find attorneys for the nine men, and efforts to seek an answer from their families were unsuccessful.
In a statement issued Saturday, the NIA alleged that the al-Qaeda cell planned to carry out multiple terrorist attacks and assassinations in the coming weeks. The arrests are one of dozens made in recent weeks, as the NIA has cracked down on jihadist groups mobilizing on platforms like WhatsApp.
Last month, the NIA had made several more arrests on jihadism-related charges, targeting individuals allegedly linked to the Islamic State in Afghanistan. Former Kerala resident Muhammad Muhsin, who organized a suicide bombing against a Gurdwara in Kabul, is believed to be one of several Indian nationals involved in the terrorist organization’s operations in that country.
NIA sources say the cell held on Friday was led by Murshid Hasan, a Kerala resident of West Bengal, who allegedly organized and raised funds for the group. Hasan was known in Islamist circles in West Bengal for inflammatory posts on social media calling for the murder of people he described as “infidels”.
An official familiar with the investigation said Hasan contacted an unidentified person on WhatsApp, who described himself as a Pakistan-based Al Qaeda operative. The commander first said that he would organize the delivery of the weapons in Kashmir, but then changed the meeting place to Delhi, citing problems caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Mosaref Hoseen, allegedly Hasan’s key NIA aide, made separate plans to buy a 9mm pistol and ammunition in Bangladesh, the source said. The NIA believes that a third member of the group, Mainul Mondal, contributed Rs 10,000 to this company.
The NIA has also detained Leu Yean Ansari, a member of the group based in West Bengal, who investigators said had acquired a locally made weapon and had also manufactured an armored jacket for his own protection.
The NIA said Saturday that it also arrested Najmus Saqib, Yakub Biswas, Atitur Rehman, Abu Sufiyan and Al-Mamum Kamal on charges ranging from assisting in the purchase of bomb-making equipment to raising funds for the group.
Sakib, an active member of the group, is highly radicalized and is involved in further radicalization of the youth in the group’s jihadist ideology. He is in communication with other members of the group regarding the acquisition of arms and ammunition.
Attorneys for some suspects detained in recent investigations against jihadists have raised fears that intelligence personnel posing as jihadists may have attracted ideologically committed Islamists to jihadism, a tactic widely used by Western law enforcement organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). but one for which there is no express legal sanction in India.
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