MUMBAI, May 31: Members of a Pakistan-backed ISI-underworld terror module, busted by Delhi Police, had planned to attack policemen and security forces in Mumbai to avenge the demolition of an illegal mosque in Garib Nagar area of Bandra here during a recent demolition drive, officials said.
The Delhi Police said that they arrested eight suspected operatives, including a Nepali national, allegedly planning attacks on vital installations, security establishments and police personnel in Delhi and other cities.
The drive, conducted from May 19 to 23 to raze unauthorised structures at Garib Nagar near Bandra station, was marred by incidents of stone-pelting, leaving 10 persons, including policemen, injured.
The suspects had allegedly conducted a recce of the Garib Nagar demolition drive and sent videos and photographs of police deployment to their handlers in Pakistan, a senior Mumbai Police official told PTI on Sunday.
Police personnel deployed during the demolition exercise in Garib Nagar and members of the Hindu community were among the intended targets, he said.
The conspiracy was allegedly planned by Pakistan’s ISI, gangster Shahzad Bhatti, Yawar Khan, and underworld operative Munna Jhingada, a close aide of Chhota Shakeel, he said.
Based on specific intelligence, Delhi Special Cell arrested Sajid Mehboob Shaikh alias Arbaaz Khan from Kurla in Mumbai and Tauqeer Rizwan Shaikh from Mumbra in Thane district on May 27, he said.
The investigation showed that the duo had surveyed a crowded bridge outside Dadar railway station as a potential target, the officer said.
Mobile phones seized from the accused persons contain videos of several locations in Mumbai, along with chats and voice notes exchanged with their handlers in Pakistan and Dubai, he said.
A Mumbai-based suspect, identified as Huzaifa, allegedly recruited local operatives into the module and is currently absconding, the officer said, adding that a search is on to trace him.
Citing preliminary findings, the officer said the module was tasked with carrying out grenade attacks and opening indiscriminate firing on police personnel, security forces, and key installations in Mumbai, he said. (PTI)
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