2 men arrested on suspicion of being members of ISIS-inspired group sent to judicial custody

A Delhi court Saturday sent two people, arrested on suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group and for planning terror attacks in the country, to judicial custody till January 22.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh sent Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath (29) and Saqib Iftekar (26) to the custody.

Advocate Mohammed Noorullah, appearing for both the accused, had opposed the National Investigation Agency's request for police custody for further interrogation.

The two accused, along with eight others, were arrested for allegedly planning suicide attacks and serial blasts targeting politicians and government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India.

All the 10 accused were arrested on December 26 after the NIA carried out searches, in coordination with the special cell of Delhi Police and Anti-Terrorism Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police, at six places in Delhi and at 11 places in western Uttar Pradesh.

A locally made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests, 12 pistols, several rounds of live ammunition and 112 alarm clocks to be used as timers were recovered during the searches, according to NIA.

The agency had initially rounded up 16 persons of the group 'Harkat ul Harb e Islam', which loosely translates into war for the cause of Islam. It was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group, officials have said.

Of the 16 detained, 10 were arrested five from Amroha in UP and five from Seelampur and Jafrabad areas in north-east Delhi, the agency has said.