Diwali-eve terrorist strike averted, 2 LeT operatives nabbed

New Delhi, Oct 16 (UNI) The Delhi Police have averted a major terrorist strike in the capital on the occasion of the Diwali festival with the arrest of two operatives of Lashkar-E-Tayyeba who arrived here this morning with a consignment of explosives to be used in the strike.

Mohd Alamgir Hassan and Abdur Razzaq Jeewon, hailing from Bangladesh, were arrested from the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg near the Old Delhi Railway station this morning after they arrived from Jammu and Kashmir by the Pooja Express with the explosives, Deputy Commissoner of Police, Special Cell Delhi, Alok Kumar told mediapersons here.

Interrogation of the two revealed that the consignment of explosives was meant to be used for terrorist strikes in Delhi on the occasion of Diwali, Mr Kumar said.

Mohd Alamgir and Abdur Razzaq told the police that they were to meet another module in Delhi who had already identified the targets.

All of the operatives had planned to leave for Bangladesh after the terrorist strike, Mr Kumar said.

He said the two LeT operatives had sneaked into Indian territory from Behrampur in West Bengal from where they reached Patna via Howrah and then proceeded to Jammu, Sopore and Hindwara where they recieved the consignment of explosives from Kashmir-based LeT operatives.

Razzaq was last year arrested in connection with the serial bomb blasts in Bangladesh. Mohd Alamgir along with Kanchan and a few other operatives had hatched a conspiracy to attack the STF office in Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The movements of the LeT operatives in India were being coordinated and directed by one Kanchan from Bangladesh.

Further interrogation of the two is on to ascertain their terrorist activities and their specific plans in Delhi.

UNI AR PK HS1624