Delhi Police arrest two suspected terrorists near Red Fort
The police claim to have seized weapons from Parwez Rashid and Jamshed Jahoor but say the national Capital was not their target.
Two suspected operatives of a Jammu and Kashmir-based affiliate of the Islamic State group have been arrested in New Delhi, the special cell of the Delhi Police said on Friday.
Parwez Rashid and Jamshed Jahoor were held from near the Red Fort. They have been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and remanded in police custody for five days, reported ANI.
“Two pistols, 10 cartridges and four mobile phones [were] seized from them,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Kushwaha claimed. “They had acquired weapons from Uttar Pradesh and were going to Kashmir. Weapons were to be used for terrorist activities.”
The police, however, said Delhi was not their target. “They were just in transit here,” Kushwaha added.
Rashid and Jahoor are residents of Kashmir’s Shopian district, reported the Hindustan Times. Rashid’s brother was killed in an encounter with security forces in January. He was initially a member of Hizbul Mujahideen.
Rashid and Jahoor reportedly told the police that the leaders of their fledgling outfit are Umar Ibn Nazir and Adil Thokar. “They were following the orders of Adil Thokar,” Kushwaha said.