While some of those arrested are students, others are employees in various companies. (Reuters photo)
Thirteen of the 14 people who were picked up by the National Investigation Agency yesterday as suspected sympathisers of ISIS have been arrested, the Home Ministry said today. Five of them were arrested yesterday by the NIA as part of a nationwide anti-terror sweep ahead of Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
Here are the 10 developments:
The arrests were made following simultaneous searches and raids at 12 locations across six cities on Friday - Bengaluru, Tumkur and Mangalore in Karnataka, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Lucknow.
Abu Anas, one of the men who was arrested in Hyderabad yesterday, works with a software company. The 25-year-old was on leave for a month, citing poor health, say investigators.
Two kilograms of ammonium nitrate and certain incriminating articles including jihadi literature and videos and material for preparation of bombs were recovered from the other suspects taken into custody from Tolichowki area in Hyderabad, investigators said.
While some of those arrested are students, others are employees in various companies.
All of them had been under surveillance for over six months now and the arrests were made amid indications that an ISIS network is coming up across the country, sources said.
"These individuals were planning and making efforts to establish a channel of procurement of explosives/weapons, identify locations to organize training camps including training of firearms, motivate new recruits to target police officers, foreigners in India and to carry out terrorist activities in various parts of India," the NIA said in a statement on Friday.
The Delhi Police detained a terror suspect from Roorkee in Uttarakhand today after interrogating four men who were arrested from the state on Wednesday for alleged links to the ISIS, according to news agency ANI.
The four were allegedly planning to attack the ongoing Kumbh Mela at Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh, trains headed there, as well as strategic locations in the national capital, the police had said.
Security agencies want to prevent a Paris-style attack, where the terrorists were under surveillance and yet managed to strike. ISIS gunmen had attacked Paris in November, killing 130 people in a cafe, rock concert and other public places.
At a recent security review chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, officials concluded there is a "very real" ISIS threat for Republic Day, when French President Francois Hollande will officiate as chief guest at the parade in the capital.
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