Delhi Police Foil ISIS Plot To Blow Up Crowded Market During Diwali, Two ISIS Affiliates Arrested

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Special Cell has thwarted a major terror plot by nabbing two ISIS affiliates, who were planning to carry out IED blasts in Delhi’s crowded market during Diwali. The two terror suspects were arrested from Delhi and Madhya Pradesh and are being interrogated by the Delhi Police and other central agencies. The police have also recovered an ISIS flag, mobile phones, hard disks, a laptop, and other incriminating material.

Additional Commissioner of Police (DCP, Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah identified the two terror suspects as Md. Adnan Khan @ Abu Muharib (19), a resident of Delhi’s Sadiq Nagar, and Adnan Khan @ Abu Mohammad (20), a resident of MP’s Bhopal. During the recovery, the police also seized a pen drive containing the video of Md. Adnan taking the Bayʿah (pledge of allegiance) while dressed in ISIS attire, to the current ISIS Caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, through a Syria-based handler.

Additional CP Kushwah stated that raids at multiple locations in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh have dismantled an interstate module of radicalised individuals affiliated with the banned organization ISIS. The raids were conducted by the Special Cell team of the Delhi Police under the supervision of DCP Amit Kaushik.

During the interrogation, the police found that the module ran social-media channels to recruit youth by circulating edited jihadi videos. The police official stated that the arrest of the two suspects led to the disruption of an interstate ISIS-linked module and also helped in averting a major terror incident in crowded areas of Delhi during peak festive activity.

“The Special Cell maintained continuous surveillance on suspected ISIS operatives and their contacts, with a special focus on suspects connected to Delhi. Credible intelligence, developed over a period of time, revealed the existence of an interstate module affiliated with ISIS. The module was disseminating jihadi videos on social media and had progressed to an advanced stage of planning attacks on crowded locations in Delhi during the festive season,” Additional CP added.

“Further investigation identified principal actors, including Mohd. Adnan (Delhi) and Adnan Khan (Bhopal). Both were active on multiple social platforms, using them to spread extremist content, recruit followers, and coordinate activities. Surveillance established that the module had begun procuring materials for improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” the police official added.

He further stated that, acting on specific intelligence, the Special Cell, in coordination with central agencies, executed a raid in South Delhi and arrested the suspect, Md. Adnan Khan. During preliminary questioning, he made significant disclosures, including that he had been in contact with an individual from Bhopal via social media.

Both Suspects Were Communicating With A Syria-Based ISIS Handler

The Bhopal-based suspect regularly sent radical jihadi videos and instructed Md. Adnan, Delhi, to edit and disseminate them. Both suspects allegedly communicated with a Syria-based ISIS handler identified as Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi. Md. Adnan admitted to recording a video of himself taking the Bayʿah for ISIS and sending it to his foreign handler. He further admitted to swearing allegiance to the ISIS Caliph, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.

As per the police, during a search of his residence, investigators recovered three mobile phones containing incriminating ISIS material, images, and manuals detailing remote detonation systems, instructions on making plastic bombs and Molotov cocktails, a pen drive, hard disks, an ISIS flag, the clothing used during the Bayʿah, and a timer clock intended for use in an IED.

Further, a case was registered under relevant sections, and Adnan Khan was arrested from Bhopal’s Karond in connection with the present case in coordination with the MP Police (Bhopal ATS).

During preliminary interrogation, he stated that he had been radicalized after consuming jihadi content online and had posted threatening material on his Instagram channel, including a post threatening an Additional Session Judge after the judge ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi.

Adnan was previously arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS. After securing bail, he allegedly resumed extremist activity by creating channels on YouTube, Instagram, and other platforms to post extremist material and recruit like-minded individuals. He also admitted to contacts with the Syrian-based handler, Abu Ibrahim al-Qureshi.