The Delhi Police’s special cell has arrested at least two suspects and detained a few others in a nationwide crackdown on a terror module. The two men caught in Mumbai, were part of a highly radicalised “Islamic State (IS)-inspired” group and were allegedly planning attacks using remote-controlled toy car bombs, according to a report by The Times of India.
Sources told the news outlet that “incriminating material”, including sensitive documents and chats, was recovered during the searches. The suspects were also allegedly in the process of making improvised explosive devices.
Raids in Mumbai lead to arrests
The raids were carried out in Kurla and nearby Khadavli, where Mossab Ahmad, also known as Kalam and Mohammad Hamad were arrested. The operation was conducted along with the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad(ATS), the report mentioned.
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Initial findings suggest that the suspects had joined radical online groups called “Mission Khilafat” and “Soldiers of Jihad”. Investigators have also found links between the accused and Abu Hufeiza, who is linked to the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and allegedly posed as an Islamic State recruiter on Telegram and other online platforms, as per the report.
“We received information that some youths in the Kurla, Shivaji Nagar and Govandi areas were in contact with banned terror outfits. Following legal procedures, the teams conducted searches at the residences of three people on Saturday and Sunday. They were interrogated, and their mobile phones and electronic devices have been seized,” TOI quoted a senior police officer as saying.
Several minors also under scanner
The crackdown has also brought several others under scrutiny. Security agencies have identified four to five minors in Mumbai who seem to have been influenced by Islamic State propaganda.
As questioning of the two arrested men continues, central and state agencies are trying to break the network and track down other people connected to it. Police said efforts are focused on identifying handlers and stopping any possible sleeper cell activity across the country, it added.
This operation comes soon after another case reported earlier, where a suspect named Rizwan was arrested by the special cell from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh in a joint operation with the UP ATS. He had been linked to an IS module since 2015, the same year he was first arrested, and was allegedly involved in recruiting people in India for the banned group. Police said a large amount of incriminating, anti-national content was recovered from him. He was earlier lodged in Arthur Road Jail and later shifted to Tihar Jail in Delhi.
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The latest crackdown also follows the busting of a Bangladesh-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module led by Shabbir Ahmed Lone.
After Operation Sindoor in May 2025, which targeted cross-border terror infrastructure, security agencies have remained on high alert to deal with possible retaliatory “asymmetric” threats. |
