SENSATIONAL: ISIS module busted in Maharashtra was planning on chemical attack, reveal ATS sources

Republic TV has got sensational details about the planning of the ISIS suspects who were caught by the Maharashtra Anti Terror Squad (ATS) earlier on Wednesday.

ATS sources have said that the group was planning on a chemcial attack in a public place to target a large gathering. The group had planned to mix the poisonous chemical in food and water and target a huge gathering. The ATS has sent the seized chemicals for forensic test.

According to ATS sources, the accused had done a recce of some important installations.

The ATS is yet to verify if there was planning for an attack was meant for the Kumbh Mela, sources said. 

The ATS is also verifying whether the mixture was to be used for the pipelines in Mumbai, said the sources.

The ATS has caught the module before they could successfully make the poisonous mixture.

The agency has also said that there is a foreign handler behind the module, say sources from the ATS. It has said that it is probing whether there are more people involved.

Maharashtra ATS DCP Mohan Dahikar said, "They had formed an organisation Ummat-E-Muhammadiya. Out of the nine people arrested, one is the son of Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Rashid Malbari. They were planning a mass killing by mixing poison in food and drinks at some gathering. They were in touch with someone from ISIS, based out of India. It is yet to be ascertained who he is. Most of the arrested people are well qualified, two are engineers, one is pursuing engineering, one is a Pharmacist and one is in class 11.

Several labelled bottles with different chemical names have been seized. They are yet to be tested. Six pen drives, over 24 cell phones, over six laptops, six wifi pods, over 24 DVDs and CDs, over 12 hard drives, over six memory cards also seize."

READ | After busting ISIS-like terror module, NIA follows up with fresh raids in UP and Punjab; Two detained

Days ahead of Republic Day, the Maharashtra Anti Terror Squad (ATS) conducted fresh raids in the state and arrested nine suspects including a 17-year-old teenager for alleged links to ISIS terror groups.

Suspects, who are allegedly engineering students have been arrested from Maharashtra's Aurangabad, Mumbra and Thane district. The other eight suspects are youngsters between the ages 20 to 35-year-old.

Four men have been held in Aurangabad, four others have been arrested from  Mumbra. Four others, in their 20s, were also arrested from Mumbra and the teenager was held from Thane.

As per ATS sources, the Maharashtra ATS was investigating the existence of sleeper cells in the state. Furthermore, mobile phones, chemicals explosives, SIM cards, acid bottles and knives have also been retrieved by the ATS during the raids.

Áccording to ATS sources, the terror squad formed about a dozen teams and carried out well-equipped searches and seizures at five different locations of Maharashtra including Mumbra, Thane and Aurangabad simultaneously during the intervening night and early morning today on January 22. While more raids are being conducted by the Anti-terror squad, the terror suspects have been arrested for criminal conspiracy under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967.

READ | Another ISIS Module Busted: Maharashtra ATS Detains 9 Suspects With Alleged Terror Links