Pakistan-linked terror plot busted in Delhi, 5 held

Investigators said the men were planning to set up secret training facilities near Delhi with the ultimate aim of establishing a “caliphate” under the banner of a so-called “Gazwa-e-Hind”.

The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested five terror suspects allegedly linked to a Pakistan-based terror module after simultaneous raids across six states, officials said on Thursday.

The suspects were allegedly found with pistols, cartridges, harmful chemicals.

The suspects were allegedly found with pistols, cartridges, harmful chemicals, and materials used for making IEDs, according to a press note shared by police.

Investigators privy with the case details said the men were planning to set up secret training facilities near Delhi with the ultimate aim of establishing a “caliphate” under the banner of a so-called “Gazwa-e-Hind”.

“We had inputs that one of the key figures of the module… was attempting to buy weapons and chemicals from agro-chemical shops and online. Intensive surveillance was mounted and our teams followed his activities. Teams were deployed in Ranchi, Thane, Bengaluru, Nizamabad and Rajgarh to track suspects associated with this network,” said Pramod Singh Kushwah, additional CP (Special Cell).

Investigators, led by ACP Rahul Vikram, had been tracking inputs about a man trying to procure weapons and chemicals in Delhi-NCR. Surveillance revealed the accused active in Delhi, Mumbai, Ranchi and Rajgarh. On Tuesday night, two accused -- Aaftab Nasir Qureshi, 25, and Sufiyan Abubakar Khan, 20 -- were picked up from near Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. They were caught with two semi-automatic pistols and 15 live cartridges, the police statement added.

Simultaneously, teams raided other states. On Wednesday morning, the alleged ringleader, 23-year-old Ashhar Danish, was held from a lodge in Ranchi’s Islamnagar. Danish, a Bokaro resident and English Honours graduate whose father is a lawyer, had allegedly been radicalised after listening to lectures of a televangelist, the statement added.

According to DCP Amit Kaushik, Danish allegedly created multiple social media groups to propagate extremist views and disguise surveillance. He posed online as a professor, NGO operator, or company executive to attract recruits, the officer added. “In August 2025, he procured copper plates to manufacture cartridges. He also obtained a bullet and a country-made pistol from Bokaro to study as a prototype for manufacturing arms,” the officer said.

Kushwah said that from his rented room, IED-making components and chemical substances were recovered. “He admitted that he had procured arms, ammunition and explosives for a criminal conspiracy for anti-national activities. He revealed that he was receiving instructions from a Pakistan-based handler and was in constant communication with other module members” Kushwah added.

Qureshi, who worked at a meat shop in Mumbai, reportedly became influenced by radical leaders online. He and Khan, his friend, allegedly travelled to Delhi to collect weapons from a Mewat-based supplier, the special cell said in a statement .

Another suspect, Mohammed Huzaif Yaman, 20, a pharmacy student from Nizamabad, was arrested on Wednesday by DCP (Cell) Amit Kaushik and other team members. Police said Yaman came into contact with Danish three years ago via Omegle and was allegedly tasked with helping manufacture ammunition, Kushwah said.

“While Yaman said his involvement was in manufacturing arms and ammunition under the guidance of Danish, Qureshi said he was taken in by the accused after he was added to a WhatsApp group where he saw videos of radical men giving extremist speeches,”Kushwah said.

The fifth accused, 26-year-old Kamran Qureshi from Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh, worked as a lab assistant and typist for advocates, said police statement, addingthat he was radicalised after joining a WhatsApp group run by Danish, where he also contributed funds to buy land and recruit more members.

From the multiple raids, police seized four pistols along with sulphuric acid, nitric acid, sodium bicarbonate, sulphur powder, and copper sheets. Also recovered were beakers, gloves, masks, wires, diodes, circuit boards, and other IED fabrication tools, the press note said.