New Delhi: The Delhi Police special cell Thursday claimed to have busted a Pakistan-backed terror module conspiring to carry out targeted killings across India and acquire land to establish a “caliphate”.
The entire module was organised and led by Ashhar Danish, an English graduate from Ranchi University, at the direction of a Pakistan-backed handler, Additional Commissioner of Police Pramod Kushwaha told a press conference Thursday.
For his education in English, Danish, the Ranchi man, was referred to as “professor” by the module members, Kushwaha said, adding other code names such as “Ghajwa leader” and “CEO” were also used by them to make the module resemble a loosely-held organisation.
Other arrested members of the module have been identified as Aaftab Ansari, Sufiyan Abubakar Khan, Kamran Qureshi, and Huzaifa Yaman.
Aaftab and Sufiyan hail from Maharashtra’s Thane, while Kamran comes from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district, and was arrested from there in a joint operation of the special cell and MP Police.
Huzaifa hails from Telangana’s Nizamabad district and was arrested in the same district during the operation.
Additional CP Khushwaha said sulphur powder, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, sodium bicarbonate, PH value checker, ball bearings, safety gloves, circuits, motherboards, weapons and cartridges have been recovered from them.
Asked whether they were planning any blasts at major cities, Kushwaha said they were “nipped in the bud” even before they could manufacture explosives to carry out any such activity.
However, he said, the module was in the process of acquiring land to establish a “caliphate” and carry out targeted killings, but were thwarted in their motive by the operation that lasted two days.
‘Self-funded, disguised as NGOs’
Kushwaha stated the members of the module were under constant surveillance and watch by human intelligence of central intelligence and investigative agencies for at least six months, and substantive information was gathered about the movement of Aaftab and Sufiyan.
From Thane, the two come to the national capital, where they allegedly acquired pistols and cartridges to carry out targeted killings on the directions of their handler.
“These two accused were arrested from Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station on Tuesday, which became a trigger point for the entire operation lasting two days across Delhi, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, in which the central intelligence agency, along with the anti-terrorism squad of these states, were also involved,” Kushwaha said.
Press Conference : The Special Cell busted international and interstate terror module. pic.twitter.com/nNIM2HXVfs
— Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) September 11, 2025
The module was being run by Ashhar Danish, who was using pseudonyms for his conduits and was the leader of the other four accused.
“Ashhar Danish was the central character behind all the module members. He was in touch with a Pakistani handler who was the driving force behind the module. A majority of the incriminating substances have been recovered from his residence. They were trained and tasked to produce every explosive, even cartridges, at home,” Kushwaha further said.
He said Danish was born in Jharkhand’s Bokaro in a middle-class family and his father is a practicing advocate and his mother a homemaker.
“He completed his Post-Graduation in English (Hons.) from Silli College, Ranchi. In January 2024, he shifted to New Tabarak Lodge, Ranchi, where he began listening to lectures of Dr. Israr Ahmad and gradually adopted radical beliefs,” the officer said.
“He came across individuals like Aaftab Qureshi and Izhar-Ul-Haq on Instagram, who shared similar ideologies. He created a group on Instagram and added around 40 people, where discussions centered on establishing the caliphate. He also created multiple groups with multiple social media IDs showing himself as CEO of a company or a professor or an NGO operator to disguise any surveillance upon him and his activities,” the ACP said.
He said Danish collected funds for procurement of chemicals and purchased Sulphur for making gunpowder. “In August 2025, he procured copper plates to manufacture cartridges. He also obtained a bullet and a country-made pistol from Bokaro to study as a prototype for manufacturing arms.”
He further said that the entire module was run disguised as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for funding, while Ashhar was also using the pseudo title of “CEO” to give it a pretext of a job.
Citing the nascent stage of investigation, the police officer refused to share details of the people on the targeted list or the details on the cities where the members of the module were purportedly looking to acquire land to establish a liberated zone.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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