Was Parbhani ISIS group planning more than one strike?

The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS), probing the Islamic State (ISIS) module from Parbhani, are looking into whether the module had plans to carry out more than one strike.

The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS), probing the Islamic State (ISIS) module from Parbhani, are looking into whether the module had plans to carry out more than one strike.

Sources said the two suspects procured low intensity explosives and planned to carry out strikes, when they were caught by the anti-terror agency.

ATS officials said they arrested the two suspects, Naser Bin Yafai Chaus - a civil contractor from Parbhani and Shahid Khan, and recovered explosives from them.

ATS investigators also found Chaus was in touch with one, Faroque, from Syria through various social media platforms. He also created multiple identities to enter various chat rooms that the foreign handlers of ISIS use.

ATS officials are now checking if instructions were being passed by foreign handlers to Chaus to carry out strikes and what their plans were.

The ATS seized a kilogram of low intensity explosives and some improvised explosive devices (IED) like ammonium nitrate, sulphur, match stick glues and other material including a circuit diagram. The explosives were kept at Khan’s grandmother’s house in the same area. The agency is also probing the possibility of the two suspects having hidden more explosives.

From their interrogation, officials have learnt the suspects had plans to carry out a blast near darghas and some other places in the Marathwada region. They are checking if the two had more targets and whether they had received instructions from their foreign handler.

The two have been booked under criminal conspiracy under 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).