Investigators were amazed when they gathered from the four arrested Pathankot attack suspects in Haridwar that they were in touch with the ISIS through Facebook and were also learning to make bombs through some websites on the internet. On Wednesday, the Delhi Police claimed to have unearthed a terror plot to target the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela at Haridwar.



The four suspected terrorists were arrested by the Delhi Police in a joint operation with the Intelligence Bureau (IB). According to IB officials, the IB keeps people who regularly access terror websites under surveillance. This is how the IB nabbed these four suspected AuT terrorists and ISIS sympathizers before they could succeed in their mission.



One of the suspected terrorists Akhlaq ur Rehman, was pursuing a diploma in engineering. A probe has revealed that his leanings towards the Islamic State began with his reading inflammatory posts of the ISIS on Facebook and in the group’s online magazine, Dabiq. Later, he got in touch with Shafi Amrar (chief of AuT). It was Amrar who radicalized him and three others. The other three suspected terrorists are Osama, Md Aziz, and Md Mehroj.

According to the Delhi Police, the suspected terrorists were making bombs with matchsticks for which they arranged explosives from Chattisgarh. Though the Police said that they have averted a major terror strike in the Ardh Kumbh Mela, the upcoming Republic Day ceremony in the national capital continues to be a cause of concern for the security agencies.