New Delhi, Feb 22: Delhi Police today claimed to have foiled a plan of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit to carry out attacks as it arrested eight Bangladeshi nationals in an operation in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Delhi Police’s Special Cell, which specifically deals with terrorism-related cases, said the arrested suspects were part of a terror module getting directions from a Bangladesh-based operative of LeT, identified as Shabbir Ahmed Lone of Kashmir.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P.K Kushwaha told a press conference here that two of the suspects, Umar Farooq and Robil-Ul Islam, were arrested from Kolkata in West Bengal and six others were arrested in Tamil Nadu.
Kushwaha said Lone had constituted this module as part of plans to carry out terrorist activities in India.
These suspects had even conducted dry runs, he said.
“A team from the Special Cell busted a module that was being handled by a Lashkar handler based in Bangladesh. A major untoward incident has been prevented,” he said.
Investigation began after anti-national and pro-terrorist posters surfaced at Metro Rail Stations in Delhi, including at Kashmiri Gate Station, on February 7.
Subsequently, Delhi Police arrested Umar Farooq and Islam in Kolkata with the help of local police, Kushwaha said.
The suspects revealed that they were directed by Shabbir Lone, a Kashmiri terrorist based in Bangladesh, who has a history of terrorist activities.
“They revealed that anti-India posters were put up at many places in Delhi…It was found out through interrogation and investigation that the direction to them was being given by Shabbir Ahmed Lone, from Bangladesh,” Kushwaha said.
Lone, hailing from Ganderbal district of Kashmir, was arrested in 2007 with AK-47 and grenades, when he planned to carry out a suicide attack on a senior political leader, the police officer said.
“He (Lone) remained in jail for many years and was released in 2019. After his release, he again fled to Bangladesh…. Initial investigations have revealed that he reconnected with the LeT leadership and re-established his organisation to carry out terrorist activities,” Kushwaha added.
Further investigation led to the arrest of six more Bangladeshi nationals in Tamil Nadu, who were allegedly part of the plot, he said.
“He (Lone) re-assembled his men and conducted dry runs with these men. He had posters put up in various locations. He did so not just in Delhi, but also in Kolkata.
“On February 10th, he put up anti-India posters at several metro stations and other locations in Kolkata. He also rented a house in Kolkata,” the Delhi Police officer said.
“Investigation revealed that some individuals who are Bangladeshi nationals were in Tamil Nadu. They were going to take them back to Kolkata and plant them in a terrorist activity before they could do anything. The team then went to Tamil Nadu and, with the help of the Tamil Nadu police, arrested six more people, all of whom are Bangladeshi nationals,” Kushwaha said.
