10 accused arrested in the case were taken to court from NIA headquarter (PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Islamic State-inspired module busted by National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this week had utilised the deafening noise of crackers during Diwali on November 7 to test-fire their pistols, as per disclosures made by the 10 arrested accused during their interrogation.

Sources said the 12 pistols seized during December 26 raids by NIA across 17 locations in Delhi and UP, were sourced from illegal arms suppliers in western UP, particularly Meerut and Hapur. The said suppliers are being identified and could face arrest, said a source.

Members of the IS-styled module including mastermind Mufti Mohd Suhail, who would get together from time to time in Delhi and Amroha, had tried firing the pistols soon after buying them. However, they detected some defects and took the pistols back to the supplier for repairs. Later during Diwali, hoping to take advantage of the noise created by crackers, the module decided to do a test-run of the pistols as part of preparations for a ‘fidayeen’ terror attack. “They timed the firing practice on Diwali night as the sound from the pistols would get drowned in the noise of crackers,” said an investigator.

As for the country-made rocket launcher seized from a welding shop of an arrested accused in Amroha, an NIA officer said the argument of some locals that it was only a “harmless” hydraulic jack used to lift tractor trolleys was pointless as two of those arrested, Saeed and Raees, had confessed to having welded the pipe used in hydraulic trolley to fabricate the rocket-launcher. The plan was to use the rocket launcher by loading it with gunpowder or other explosives, claimed an investigator. “It is a crude rocket launcher fabricated as per understanding of the welders and using some online resources, but can kill, just like the so-called ‘sutli bombs’ that have been used for terror strikes in the past,” said an officer.

NIA sources said the members of the module had been following the instructions of their handlers to escape tracking by creating a chat group on Telegram, deleting it and then creating a new chat group every few days. “The modus operandi of the Delhi-UP IS module is similar to IS-inspired groups busted earlier. The module is handled by a foreign-based entity, who talks to the members through a local mastermind. The mastermind, as instructed by the foreign handler, motivates the youth to realise Islamic State’s aim for a Caliphate by carrying out acts of terror within India,” revealed an investigator.

