Two youths linked to ISIS arrested

Two youths allegedly linked to banned terror outfit Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were nabbed by a Special Cell of the Delhi Police before they could carry out IED blasts in the Capital ahead of Diwali, an official said on Friday.

The accused identified as Adnan Khan, alias Abu Mohammad (20) was arrested from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (MP), who joined Mohammad Adnan Khan, alias Abu Muharib (19) of Sadiq Nagar in Southeast Delhi. He had secured bail in 2024 in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for threatening an Additional Sessions Judge in connection with the videographic survey of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said both youths started to consume radical material on social media and were working on the instructions of a handler based on the border of Iraq and Syria.

One of them had admitted of taking “Bay’ah” (pledge of allegiance) to the current ISIS Caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, through the handler, Kushwah said.

He added that based on the instructions of their handler, the duo began procuring material to produce IEDs intended for use in crowded locations in Delhi during the festive season.

The action was prompted after the Special Cell team, which keeps a hawk’s eye on social media, noticed the existence of an interstate module affiliated with the ISIS that was disseminating jihadi videos, Kushwah pointed out.

Based on this information, a coordinated raid along with intelligence agencies was conducted in Sadiq nagar in Delhi on October 16, four days before Diwali, where one of the accused was arrested and on October 18, the another accused was arrested from Bhopal in coordination with Bhopal ATS, said the Additional CP.

Their arrest resulted in the seizure of a pen drive containing the video of Mohammad Adnan (arrested from Delhi) taking the Bay?ah while dressed in ISIS attire (black clothing and scarf), an ISIS flag, mobile phones containing radical videos, hard disks and laptops.

Additionally, the investigators also seized images and manuals detailing “remote detonation systems”, instructions on making “plastic bombs”, “Molotov cocktails” (a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a fuse) and a watch that was to be used as a timer.