The chief of Islamic State Khorasan Province has been arrested in Afghanistan for plotting the attack on a gurdwara in Kabul last month in which 27 worshippers were killed, Tolo News reported.

Aslam Farooq was arrested along with 19 of his associates from Kandahar on Friday during a “targeted and complex operation” by special national security forces. Farooq is also believed to have ties with the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network.

Unidentified suicide bombers and gunmen had attacked the gurdwara in the Shor Bazaar area of Kabul, triggering a military confrontation between the security forces and the attackers, with Afghan special forces blocking off the area to avoid more casualties, Interior Ministry Spokesperson Tariq Arian was quoted as saying by AP. The identity of the attackers was not immediately clear but Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid in a message on Twitter denied responsibility for the attack.

India had condemned the terror attack saying that the “cowardly” incident that happened at the time when the world was struggling to combat the coronavirus pandemic, shows the “diabolical mindset” of perpetrators. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said, “Such cowardly attacks on places of worship of minority community especially at this time is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators and their backers.”

On Wednesday The National Investigation Agency registered a case to look into the terror attack in Kabul. One Indian was among 27 Sikh worshippers who were killed in the attack.

This is the first instance of the NIA filing a case for a terror attack committed outside India. According to the amended NIA Act, the central agency is empowered to investigate terror attacks committed outside India “affecting Indian citizens or affecting the interest of India”.