Indian Police Arrest 3 Daesh-Inspired Extremists in Jihadist Cell Raid

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Muhammad Sajid, Sameer Ahmad, and Shakir Ansari were arrested in Delhi late on Tuesday, with an improvised explosive device seized during the operation, The Indian Express reported Thursday, citing police sources.

The group, which had been under police surveillance for more than a year, was seized after a bomb-making experiment caused an explosion that injured Sajid, the newspaper said, adding that the extremists were planning to avenge the anti-Muslim 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in the state of Uttar Pradesh that resulted in the deaths of over 40 Muslims.

According to investigation sources, the suspects had contacts with the Pakistani Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist group, which is blamed for the January 2 attack on the Pathankot airbase in India near the Pakistani border, in which three Indian servicemen were killed. The men then set up an independent jihadist cell, inspired by Daesh.

Daesh, outlawed in many countries including the United States and Russia, overran large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and declared a caliphate on the areas they control. The group has gained much notoriety for conducting suicide bombings and other attacks worldwide as well as for recruiting young people via social media.