The National Investigation Agency on Thursday carried out searches at eight places in western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in connection with its inquiry against a suspected Islamic State-linked module that was busted last month, PTI reported. The raids are reportedly under way.
The module, Harkat ul Harb-e-Islam, had been planning to carry out attacks targeting politicians and government buildings in New Delhi and other parts of North India, the agency had claimed after the first set of raids on December 26.
The latest raids were conducted at places such as Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Hapur, Amroha and Ludhiana, according to The Tribune. Officials also detained a man identified as Mohammad Ovesh Pasha at Meharbaan village on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road.
The agency has arrested 12 people in this connection so far. Ten were arrested from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi after the first raids, which the NIA conducted in a joint operation with the police. Pistols, ammonium nitrate and material used to make Improvised Explosive Devices were recovered from those arrested. The agency arrested 21-year-old Naeem from Meerut on January 4 and 24-year-old Muhammad Absar from Ghaziabad on January 12.
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