Delhi Police Special Cell escorting Jaish terrorists after they were produced at Patiala House courts in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

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Delhi cops arrest 3 JeM men, major terror attack in NCR foiled

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police's special cell claimed to have foiled a major terror strike in the NCR with the arrest of three alleged members of Jaish-e-Muhammed, who were, according to the cops, on the verge of staging a Pathankot-like strike at the Hindon airbase and a mall on the Delhi-Ghaziabad border.While the alleged module leader, Sajid, was picked up from north-east Delhi's Chand Bagh near Gokulpuri, two others, Shakir and Samir, were held from Deoband and Ghaziabad's Loni, respectively.A live IED and a damaged one, 250 grams of high-grade explosives, two timer devices, two pipes, adhesives and 11batteries, including six dry cells, were seized from the trio. Two of the accused were in touch with JeM chief Masood Azhar's brother, Talha, through WhatsApp and had been getting instructions, cops said. Ten more suspects, eight of them from Delhi, are being interrogated at the cell's headquarters in Lodhi Colony. Special commissioner Arvind Deep said more arrests may follow.Police sources said cops had also managed to infiltrate the module's WhatsApp group.Sajid told the police he was radicalized by an Imam a few years ago. He was drawn to Masood Azhar after hearing his sermons on the internet and subsequently got in touch with the terror outfit.The operation kicked off on Tuesday evening after the cell was alerted to an IED blast in Sajid's house in northeast Delhi in which his hand was burned. He had accidentally triggered the IED on Monday night while sealing pipes with the adhesive. Sajid was already on the cell's radar for the past six months for suspicious activities.Twelve crack teams raided around 13 places between 6pm on Tuesday and 6am on Wednesday, and picked up the suspects. While three of them were arrested on the basis of evidence found against them, the rest were put through sustained questioning. The arrested trio was taken on 10-day police remand to unearth the conspiracy. Delhi Police has registered an FIR under section of unlawful activities prevention Act.Explaining the operation, joint commissioner (cell) V Renganathan said the cell had been developing inputs about a Jaish module in the capital for six months and were able to map it through sources and electronic surveillance."We were tracking their activities. After March 2016, some rabid members of the group started going on trips beyond Delhi NCR. Police informers also started noticing that several of the suspects were meeting late in the night. Some of them were also travelling discreetly to local markets and spending considerable time there," Renganathan said."On April 18, it was learnt that it was Jaish-e-Mohammad, the banned Pakistani terror outfit, that was patronizing the group," he said. Thereafter, all available strength of the team was deployed on tracking every bit of activity of the group."In the afternoon, the source tracking Sajid said the suspect had suffered burn injuries in his left palm the preceding night while assembling an IED, along with his aides, in his tailoring shop. This was followed by a `tech-int' which suggested Sajid was planning to use the 'product' soon. Following this, an FIR was was registered and action initiated," DCP (special cell) Pramod Kushwah said.The police commissioner was briefed on Wednesday evening and an action plan was drawn. The operation had to be precise. "A special control room was set up under DCP Pramod Kushwah and additional DCP Manishi Chandra to monitor the 12 teams. Three teams each were assigned to inspectors Lalit Mohan Negi, Hriday Bhushan, Chandrika Prasad and Satish Rana. The teams conducted raids at several locations in Delhi, Loni and Deoband and rounded up13 suspects," an officer said.Sajid's house, where the alleged blast took place, was examined by the bomb squad and forensic teams. Mobiles, books, literature and videos have been recovered from the room.