Hyderabad: Investigations by the National Investigation Agency into the face-off with terror suspects at Suryapet last week, in which two Simi activists were killed, indicate that the terror module was planning a strike in Delhi.

NIA sleuths are pursuing leads that show that the terror module was using Hyderabad and Vijayawada for logistics while planning a strike in the national capital. A senior intelligence official of the AP police said, “There is a strong Delhi link emerging. According to the NIA, the Simi operatives were planning to strike in Delhi or its surroundings.”

He said that apart from the Delhi-Hyderabad train ticket recovered from the suspects, the NIA had “specific inputs” pointing to a plot to strike in the capital.

On Monday intelligence agencies of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were informed by the Central agencies that the suspects were using Hyderabad and Vijayawada for logistics, committing robberies to collect money for their activities and as hideouts.

It is suspected that Hyderabad, Nalgonda and Vijayawada have Simi supporters. The official revealed that the Nalgonda district has around 45 identified sympathisers of Simi and other terror organisations. The Telangana government is yet to hand over the investigations into the shootout, in which three police personnel were killed in two related incidents on Thursday and Sunday, to the NIA.

The National Investigation Agency is carrying out a parallel investigation along with the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh police forces. The two suspects, Md Aijajuddeen, the amir (chief) of the module and Md Ismail who were shot dead in an encounter on Saturday were sharp shooters; of the 20 rounds they fired, 13 hit the cops killing three of them and injuring three others. Three more suspects out of the five who escaped from Khandwa jail in Madhya Pradesh in 2013 are still on the run.

Meanwhile, a counter intelligence official of Telangana dismissed reports that the police had found cellphones belonging to the terror suspects. He said police was trying to track their movements prior to the encounter.

“We are scouring the CCTV footage from the Nampally railway station on suspicion that the missing third terror suspect may have travelled from Delhi. We are also checking the CCTV footage from the Pandit Nehru bus station in Vijayawada as the two suspects travelled from Hyderabad to Vijayawada twice,” he said.

The demand to hand over the probe to the NIA is growing louder; BJP leaders have insisted that the government hand over the case to the Central agency.