In a major breakthrough, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested nine suspected Al-Qaeda operatives in at several locations in Kerala and West Bengal on Saturday (September 19) morning.
Six suspects who were arrested from West Bengal belonged to Murshidabad, while the other three are currently residing in Ernakulam, Kerala.
The names of the arrested include Murshid Hasan, Iyakub Biswas and Mosaraf Hossen from Ernakulam, and Najmus Sakib, Abu Sufiyan, Mainul Mondal, Leu Yean Ahmed, Al Mamun Kamal and Atitur Rehman from Murshidabad.
The arrested terror operatives will be produced before the courts in Kerala and West Bengal and would be sent into police custody for further investigation, according to a release issued by the NIA.
The arrested operatives were part of Al-Qaeda, a Islamic terror group responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. The terror module was planning to carry out strikes against vital installations.
NIA has recovered incriminating materials, including digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons,
country-made firearms, a locally fabricated body armour, articles and literature used for making home-made explosive devices have been seized from their possession.
NIA in a press release said the the men were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media.
They had plans to carry out attacks at multiple places, including the National Capital Region, New Delhi. However, the arrest of these jihadis have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country.