ISI-Dawood plot to target many cities foiled

Foiling a sinister plan hatched by Pakistan spy agency ISI and ‘D Company’ to carry out serial blasts and target killings across multiple cities, the Indian intelligence establishment and Delhi Police’s special cell have arrested six alleged terror operatives in an elaborate multi-state operation.

Delhi’s anti-terror unit chief, Pramod Kushwaha said that the police had recovered improvised explosive devices containing RDX, grenades, Beretta pistols and ammunition which had been stocked up for the attacks on large congregations during the upcoming festivals. Around 1 kg of RDX has been found till now.

Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees was directly coordinating execution of the plot and handling recruitment, finance, transport and other logistical aspects through his underworld channels. Two of the arrested men — Mohammad Osama from Delhi and Zeeshan from Prayagraj — were trained by the ISI and Pak military at Gioni in the Gwadar port area. Ibrahim’s henchmen first got them to Muscat and then took them to Pakistan via the sea route. They came under the scanner of agencies during this time.

The module had got multiple IEDs arranged from sources across the border and were at an advanced stage of execution when the agencies swooped down on them, thereby saving scores of lives.

The first to be arrested was the chief handler and D Company henchman, Jaan Mohammed Sheikh alias Sameer Kaliya (47), a resident of Social Nagar, Mumbai. He was nabbed from a running train in Kota, Rajasthan, while he was on his way to Delhi.

Jaan Mohammed Sheikh alias Sameer Kaliya led the teams to Mohammad Osama (22) alias Sami, from Jamia Nagar area of Delhi. Simultaneously, cops picked up another D Company associate and hawala dealer Moolchand (47), from Rae Bareilly in UP.

Jaan Mohammed Sheikh alias Sameer Kaliya led the teams to Mohammad Osama (22) alias Sami, a resident of Abu Fazal Enclave in Jamia Nagar area of Delhi. Simultaneously, cops picked up another D Company associate and hawala dealer Moolchand (47), a resident of Rae Bareilly in UP. Raids continued with the arrest of Zeeshan Qamar from Prayagraj and Mohammad Amir Javed from Lucknow. Mohammed Abu Bakar (23), a resident of Bahraich, was arrested from Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi.

Police commissioner Rakesh Asthana reviewed the operation on Tuesday noon. The operation was conducted by a crack team led by ACP Lalit Mohan Negi and Hriday Bhushan. According to the police, the arrested persons were tasked separately to execute different aspects of the terror plan. “The underworld operative, Sameer, a close contact of Anees Ibrahim, was tasked by a Pakistan-based person connected with underworld operatives hiding in Pakistan to ensure smooth delivery of IEDs, sophisticated weapons and grenades to different entities in India,” DCP Kushwaha said.

Osama and Zeeshan, who are Pakistan-trained terror operatives working under the instructions of ISI, were given the responsibility of conducting reconnaissance of suitable locations in Delhi and UP and place the IEDs, he added.

“The special cell of Delhi Police had received a reliable input from a central agency that a Pakistan-abetted and sponsored group of entities was planning to execute serial IED blasts in India. For this, the group has got multiple IEDs arranged from sources across the border and were at an advanced stage of preparation," DCP Kushwaha said in a statement. Their inputs, said cops, indicated that an Okhla-based entity was an important part of this module who had associates based in various parts of the country, including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.