Nine suspected Al Qaeda operatives arrested in India

INDIA’S anti-terrorism agency on Saturday arrested nine suspected terrorists belonging to an Al Qaeda group who had allegedly been planning attacks in the country, including in the capital New Delhi.

The arrests were made during raids at several locations in Ernakulum in the southern state of Kerala and in Murshidabad in the eastern state of West Bengal, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a statement.

The NIA said it had been investigating reports of an inter-state module of Al Qaeda operatives at various locations in India.

“The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds,” the statement said.

Large quantities of “incriminating material,” including digital devices, documents, jihadi literature, sharp weapons, locally-made fire-arms and articles about making explosives, had been seized from the men.

The detainees were radicalised by Pakistanbased Al Qaeda terrorists through social media, the NIA claimed.

The men are to be brought before courts seeking police custody and investigations would continue.

India has been a target of terrorist attacks by Islamist militant groups in the past, including for example an attack by armed men at multiple targets in Mumbai in November 2008 in which 160 people were killed.

“The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror in their minds”