The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday claimed to have foiled a terror plot with the arrest of four alleged Jaish-e-Mohammed militants. They were reportedly planning an attack ahead of Independence Day.

The suspected militants had planned to place a vehicle laden with an Improvised Explosive Device in Jammu before August 15, the police alleged, and added that they were also conducting reconnaissance of important targets in other parts of the country.

They were also planning to collect arms dropped by drones and to supply them to active Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in the Kashmir Valley, the Jammu police said.

The police first arrested Muntazir Manzoor alias Saifulla, a resident of the Prichoo area of Pulwama district, in connection with the case. They allegedly recovered a pistol, a magazine, several ammunition rounds and hand grenades from him. The police said they also seized a truck that Manzoor was using to transport the weapons to the Kashmir Valley.

The other suspected militants were identified as Ijahar Khan alias Sonu Khan from Uttar Pradesh, Touseef Ahmed Shah aka Showket aka Adnan from Shopian district and Jahangir Ahmed Bhat from Pulwama district, according to the Hindustan Times.

“Ijahar Khan disclosed that the Jaish commander in Pakistan by the name of Munazir aka Shahid had asked him to collect weapons from near Amritsar, which he said would be dropped by a drone,” Additional Director General of Police Mukesh Singh said.

Singh added: “He [Ijahar Khan] was also asked by Jaish to do reconnaissance of Panipat oil refinery, which he did and sent videos to Pakistan. He was then tasked to do reconnaissance of Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi but was arrested before he could accomplish this task.”

Touseef Ahmed Shah, allegedly told the police that he had been tasked with procuring a second-hand motorcycle that would be used for the IED blast, according to India Today.

Authorities have tightened security in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the 75th Independence Day on Sunday. Security forces are also using drones to monitor the region, PTI reported.

A suspected militant was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Friday, the police said. Two members of the security forces and two civilians were injured.