New Delhi: The Delhi Police Thursday arrested four men from Kargil for allegedly conspiring to “plan and execute terror activities in Delhi”, ThePrint has learnt.
The four men — Nazir Hussain, Zulfikar Ali Wazir, Aiaz Hussain and Mizammil Hussain — who are in their 20s, are also suspected to be involved in the Israel embassy blast case that took place in January.
According to sources, the men were arrested in a joint operation with a central intelligence agency and Kargil Police, and have been brought to Delhi for questioning. A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the Israel embassy blast case, will join the investigation too, sources said.
The arrests were not made in connection with the Israel embassy blast case but a “conspiracy case” that is being probed by the Delhi Police Special Cell, a police source told ThePrint.
“The men, all residents of village Thang, have been arrested in connection with a conspiracy case, being probed by Special Cell. We [also] suspect that the men could be involved in planning and execution of the explosion that took place outside the Israel embassy. We had strong leads about them. Our teams went to Kargil and the men were detained. They will now be questioned,” a police source said.
On 29 January, a low-intensity blast was reported from outside the Israel embassy on Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi, less than one and a half kilometres from where the Beating Retreat ceremony was being held.
The blast damaged a few cars parked in the area around the embassy but no one was injured.
The police had recovered an unsigned letter from the blast site that was addressed to the Israeli ambassador, and stated that the explosion was just a “trailer”. It also referred to Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani and nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh as “martyrs”. Both Iranians were killed in two separate incidents last year.
The explosive was later found to be a crude bomb, which was planted next to a palm tree on the pavement opposite the embassy. Several IED components were also found scattered nearby.
NIA released visuals of suspects
With the investigation in the case hitting a dead wall, the NIA on 15 June released visuals of two men, seeking the public’s help to identify and arrest the suspects.
“Any information in this regard leading to identification and arrest of the suspected individuals will be rewarded with cash of Rs 10 lakh on each,” the NIA spokesperson had said. The spokesperson also shared the Google Drive link where one can access the pictures and videos of the two people.
In the footage accessed from the CCTV cameras outside the Israel embassy, the two men, wearing masks, can be seen roaming near the spot on the day of the explosion.
The NIA had zeroed down on the two after going through the CCTV footage multiple times.
(Edited by Neha Mahajan)
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