A suspected ISIS operative was arrested along with large amounts of explosives and weapons in New Delhi, India, on Friday night, authorities said. According to the police, the accused was a lone wolf and was planning a massive attack in the country's capital but was arrested following a brief shootout in one of the posh localities of the city.
Police said that they were alerted just at the right time and succeeded in foiling plans of a massive attack in the coming days. New Delhi has been the target of terrorist groups time and again and over the years have been witness to some major attacks. A high alert has been declared in New Delhi and adjoining states following the arrest and vehicles crossing the border are being checked by security officials.
Terrorist Attack Foiled
The accused, Abu Yusuf Khan, an ISIS operative, was arrested and two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were seized by the Special Cell of Delhi Police at around 11.30 pm on Friday in the city's Dhaula Kuan area, one of the major exit points from the city. Police said that they recovered two pressure cookers, turned into IEDs with about 15 kg of explosives in them, and a pistol from Yusuf Khan, who was trying to flee after police started chasing him.
The arrest was preceded by a brief shootout. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwaha said six rounds of fire were exchanged before the Yusuf Khan was finally nabbed. "The accused, who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was arrested after an exchange of fire from Ridge Road between Dhaula Kuan and Karol Bagh," he said.
Prized Catch
Yusuf Khan was on the radar of New Delhi police for quite some time. A team of New Delhi police was tracking his movements over the past few months. On Friday evening, police got a tipoff that he would be arriving near the Ridge area. "A trap was laid and we managed to catch him after a brief encounter," Kushwaha said.
Later, a bomb disposal team of the National Security Guard was called in to defuse the IEDs. Officials believe the Khan visited several places in the city and was plotting a "lone wolf attack". Further investigations are on and police are yet to ascertain if the suspected terrorist had accomplices in other parts of the city or country.
Yusuf Khan's arrest comes just days after Abdur Rahman, 28, an ophthalmologist, who allegedly worked with the ISIS in Syria in 2014, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from the city of Bengaluru. Rahman is accused of conspiring with Jahanzaib Sami Wani of Jammu and Kashmir. Wani and his wife, Hina Bashir Beigh, were arrested earlier by the NIA in New Delhi for allegedly carrying out ISIS activities in India.
