IS suspect held in Delhi

A man suspected of links with the Islamic State (IS) terror outfit has been arrested here, Delhi Police said on Friday.

Mohsin Abraham Sayeed (26), a resident of Malad in Mumbai, was arrested from Old Delhi's Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal on late Thursday night by the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

"We arrested IS suspect Mohsin Abraham on a tip-off and recovered Rs.85,000 from his possession," Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Arvind Deep told IANS.

He said Sayeed was in touch with four IS suspects arrested on January 19 in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district.

Sayeed's arrest takes the number of IS suspects arrested by Delhi Police to five.

The arrest of other four suspects -- Akhlaq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Osama alias Adil, Mohammad Azimu Shaan and Mehraj -- was based on specific information by central intelligence agencies.

They allegedly planned to carry out bombings during the ongoing Ardh Kumbh pilgrimage in Haridwar, in Roorkee-Haridwar trains, in Delhi and some parts of the National Capital Region.

The Ardh Kumbh pilgrimage that commenced on January 1 would last till April 30. During the four-month religious congregation, over five crore pilgrims are expected to visit Haridwar for a holy dip in the Ganges.

The officer said Sayeed had arranged for finances for the four other arrested suspects and handed over Rs.50,000 to Akhlaq-ur-Rehman. He has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Police sources said Sayeed had come to Delhi to meet one of his associates, whose name is withheld due to investigation, and wanted to visit Rohtak in Haryana where he wanted to stay for some period before going to Syria.

The officer said Sayeed had given Rs.50,000 to Akhlaq-ur-Rehman to arrange for his passport, visa and tickets to go to Syria to joint IS camps for fighting alongside the Islamist terror militia.

The officer said Sayeed was radicalised by the Islamic literature which he read on the Internet and then contacted some people through social networking sites.

"Sayeed was made to go through some texts and speeches after which he owed allegiance to IS,” the officer added.

Another officer, privy to the investigations, told IANS that all the arrested IS suspects were in touch with former Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Safi Armar who, intelligence agencies say, is the main recruiter of Indian men lured by the IS ideology.

Armar, intelligence sources said, is now believed to be in Syria and is a key member of Ansar-ul-Tawhid, a recruiting wing that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

This is the 23rd arrest in nationwide raids carried out by intelligence agencies, including the National Investigation Agency, Special Cell of Delhi Police and other state police teams. - IANS