In a significant breakthrough, the Delhi police special cell and the Intelligence Bureau on Thursday smashed a major Indian Mujahideen module responsible for the Pune serial bombings in August this year. The IM operatives planned to carry out a series of blasts in New Delhi in the coming festival season and also target some religious places in Bodh Gaya.
The IM men had managed to set up a hideout in Delhi’s Pul Prahladpur area with some local support. All three arrested men — Asad Khan, Imran Khan and Sayeed Firoz — are residents of Maharashtra. Asad Khan was the module’s main recruiter.
What is significant is that with this arrest the intelligence agencies have for the first time established a clear, direct link between IM and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. Asad Khan admitted during interrogation he was in constant touch with top Lashkar commander Fayaz Qagazi, said to be operating from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Thursday that the security agencies were “fully alert” and ready to thwart attempts to disturb the peace anywhere in the country. The home ministry, he said, was keeping all states alerted about terror threats. He said the agencies became aware about the three IM activists eight to 10 days ago, and made it public once they had been arrested.