The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested five additional members of an eight-person terror module allegedly connected to Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) handler Shahzad Bhatti, in a major crackdown against a trans-border terror network, the police said on Wednesday.
The latest arrests follow a multi-state investigation into the activities of an outfit identified as Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH), which police said had recently expanded its operations in parts of North India.
According to Delhi Police, the accused were allegedly tasked with targeting police personnel in Delhi and neighboring states, promoting the Pakistan-backed outfit through graffiti in the Delhi-NCR region, and putting up posters glorifying Pakistan-based handlers.
TTH linked to attack on police official in Punjab
Police said the group had recently claimed responsibility for the killing of an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in Majitha, Amritsar. Arms, ammunition, and other incriminating material have also been recovered from the arrested accused, according to news agency ANI.
The arrests are part of an ongoing probe into alleged attempts to build a terror network with support from handlers based across the border.
Delhi Police had earlier busted an international terror-crime syndicate allegedly connected to gangster-turned-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti and his associate Ajmal Gujjar. According to the earlier investigation, seven key operatives were arrested for their alleged involvement in smuggling illegal arms, ammunition, and narcotics from Pakistan through Punjab and supplying them across Delhi-NCR.
Operatives allegedly recruited through social media
Intelligence inputs received in May suggested that Pakistan-based handlers were allegedly planning attacks in Delhi-NCR by recruiting young people through social media platforms.
Police had arrested one of the accused, Mohit, from northeast Delhi and recovered an illegal pistol, cartridges, and a mobile phone containing alleged communications with the network.
Investigators said the accused were allegedly recruited through social media and encrypted communication platforms and were tasked with facilitating the movement of weapons and narcotics sent from Pakistan through drone deliveries.
Police had also claimed that some members of the network conducted reconnaissance of public places and potential targets, with photographs and videos allegedly shared with handlers based in Pakistan.
NIA conducts searches in Punjab, Haryana
The arrests come days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at 18 locations in Punjab and Haryana in connection with three terror-gangster network cases linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Shahzad Bhatti.
The NIA teams searched locations across nine districts of the two states and examined several individuals as part of the investigation, the agency said.
During the searches, the anti-terror agency seized digital devices, documents, and information related to communication networks and financial transactions linked to persons under investigation.
The NIA said the recovered material has been sent for scrutiny, forensic examination, and technical analysis to uncover the larger cross-border conspiracy.
The agency has also issued notices to certain individuals asking them to join the investigation for further examination as part of its probe into the alleged network operated by Bhatti from across the border.
