The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday carried out raids at eight places in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in connection with its probe against an ISIS-inspired Harkut-ul-Harb-e-Islam module.

The agency said that the raids were carried out at Rampur, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Hapur, Amroha and Ludhiana after new revelations from the arrested accused during their custodial interrogation. On January 12, the agency had arrested Muhammad Absar (24) from Hapur, the twelfth accused in the case.

Absar teaches at Jamia Husania Abul Hassan at Hapur in Ghaziabad and had visited three places in Jammu and Kashmir in May and August last year along with another accused Iftekhar Sakib. The agency said that the ISIS-inspired group had allegedly planned suicide attacks and serial blasts that targetted politicians and government installations in New Delhi and the national capital region.

On January 5, the NIA arrested a 21-year-old man named Mohammed Nayeem for supplying weapons to the module.

Nayeem had allegedly supplied weapons to the 10 men arrested on December 26 last year, including the group head Mufti Suhail. Other arrested included Suhail (29), Anas Yunus (24), Rashid Zafar Raq (23), Saeed (28), Saeed's brother Raees Ahmad, Zubair Malik (20), Zubair's brother Zaid (22), Saqib Iftekar (26), Mohammed Irshad (in 20s) and Mohammed Azam (35).

At the time, the agency seized various items including 25 kg of explosive material such as Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Nitrate, Sulphur, Sugar material paste, 12 pistols, 150 rounds of live ammunition, 1 country- made rocket launcher, and mobile phone circuits, among other things.

Attack Foiled