Officials say IS suspects eyed stampede at Ardh Kumbh, riots

The four students arrested with alleged connection to the Islamic State group were planning for an explosion that would have led to a fatal stampede at the Ardh Kumbh, a key day of pilgrimage for Hindus.

Officials investigating the alleged Islamic State terror plot that was unravelled with the arrest of four students in Uttarakhand have said that the plan did not include a powerful, mass-casualty strike but an explosion that would have led to a fatal stampede at the Ardh Kumbh, a key day of pilgrimage for Hindus.

The four students arrested with alleged connection to the Islamic State group were planning for an explosion that would have led to a fatal stampede at the Ardh Kumbh, a key day of pilgrimage for Hindus. (HT File Photo)

The officials recovered makings of rudimentary explosives using scrapped matchsticks which, while not being potent to cause deaths, could have led to chaos at the target site, the Har ki Pauri ghat in Haridwar, which is usually packed with thousands of people during the period of the pilgrimage.

“They planned to strike Ardh Kumbh precisely because they wanted it to snowball into a communal riot. They planned that when an Islamic group would claim responsibility for the attack, it would automatically lead to communal tension and violence. The men planned to take advantage of the growing insecurities among people in India,” the sources said.