Three suspected Islamic State recruits were arrested on Thursday from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, Jalandhar in Punjab and Mumbai, Maharashtra. The arrests were made during a joint anti-terror operation carried out by a special cell of the Delhi Police, the counter-intelligence cell of the Andhra Pradesh Police, Bihar Police, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and the Punjab Police.

Authorities have detained six others for interrogation. Apart from Mumbai, Bijnor and Jalandhar, raids were also carried out in Narkatiyaganj (Bihar) and Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh). “We had received inputs that existing members of a terror outfit were looking out for recruits to execute terror attacks,” the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad said in a statement. “The Maharashtra ATS gave necessary assistance during the operation to nab those suspected of terrorists activities.”

The arrests come nearly a month after the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested a former employee of the Indian Air Force and another suspect believed to be behind the explosion aboard the Bhopal-Ujjain train. Another suspect in the train explosion case, Saifullah, was killed in an encounter in Lucknow on March 8. The 22-year-old’s body was found at the site of the 12-hour-long gunfight, along with arms and ammunition, mobile phones and other provisions.