Six more suspects in custody for alleged links with Pakistan-based terror module Jaish-e-Mohammad were let off on Sunday, a day after four were released. A special cell of Delhi Police and members of the Intelligence Bureau had arrested 13 people on May 3 for conspiring to carry out terror strikes in the National Capital Region and questioned them for three days, The Times of India reported. Police reportedly said they could find no evidence linking the suspects to a terror plot, though they “admitted to attending indoctrination lessons”, the report said.
However, a forensic report of the suspects’ mobile phones showed they did have links to JeM, the group suspected to have carried out attacks at Pathankot Air Force base early in January. JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar (pictured above) has reportedly been hiding out in Pakistan.
On Saturday, four people who had been detained were let off due to lack of evidence. All 10 will be counselled by a psychiatrist and a Muslim religious scholar or maulana, the report said. One of the people arrested was a minor, The Indian Express had reported.
Special Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, Arvind Deep, told The Indian Express that the men had revealed they were angry at the system, which made them vulnerable to terror groups seeking new recruits. The 10 will still be monitored for the next year, police said. Of the 13 who were detained by police last week, three men remain in custody – Sajid, Sameer and Shakir.
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