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Suspected ISIS operative with IEDs arrested in Delhi after shootout, had planned ‘lone-wolf’ attack

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell), Pramod Singh Kushwaha, the suspect was a lone wolf who had planned an attack in the national capital.

Suspected ISIS operative with IEDs arrested in Delhi after shootout, had planned ‘lone-wolf’ attack

(Representational image: iStock)

A suspected ISIS operative was arrested with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by the Delhi Police Special Cell from central Delhi’s Ridge Road area after an exchange of fire late Friday.

Abu Yusuf, the accused, was arrested at around 11:30 pm by the special cell of the Delhi Police, officials said.

Following his arrest, the ISIS suspect was brought to the Special Cell Office in Lodhi Colony.

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Meanwhile, National Security Guard (NSG) commandos have been deployed near Buddha Jayanti Park in Ridge Road area, from where the ISIS operative was arrested. The security personnel are carrying out search operations at the site.

According to the Delhi Police, the suspect was on a bike when intercepted by the cops. Searches are underway at several locations in the national capital.

“The accused was arrested after an exchange of fire from Ridge Road between Dhaula Kuan and Karol Bagh,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwaha said.

According to media reports, the police said they have recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a pistol from the man’s possession.

The city police further said that the National Security Guard (NSG) and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) will analyse the contents of the IEDs recovered from the ISIS operative. The IEDs were later diffused by the security forces.

The IEDs were found in a pressure cooker but the weight is not yet clear. It will be confirmed after investigation, the Delhi Police informed.

A police team had received information about Khan’s movement in the ridge area between Dhaula Kuan and Karol Bagh, following which it laid a trap, the report stated.

“There was an exchange of fire after which he was arrested. He was a lone wolf who had planned an attack in the national capital. We have recovered a pistol and two IEDs from him. We will share more details during the day,” the deputy commissioner was quoted as saying by HT.

In the wake of the arrest in Delhi, all SSPs and security agencies of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh have been instructed to remain on high alert.

The arrest comes days after a doctor was arrested in Bengaluru for having alleged links with the terrorist group ISIS.

An ophthalmologist, Abdur Rahman, who worked at the MS Ramaiah Medical College in Bengaluru, was arrested by the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) for alleged links to ISIS operatives on August 17.

The 28-year-old was arrested in connection with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) case being probed by the NIA.

The ISKP case was initially registered by the Delhi Police Special Cell in March after the arrest of a Kashmiri couple — Jahanzaib Sami Wani and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar in the national capital.

The investigative agency, after Rahman’s arrest, carried out searches at three of his premises and seized digital devices, a mobile phone and laptop containing incriminating material.

The NIA had also arrested two Pune residents, Sadiya Anwar Sheikh and Nabeel Siddick Khatri, for allegedly being part of the conspiracy to further the activities of ISIS/ISKP in India and to carry out subversive activities in the garb of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.

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