An interruption of a call by one of the jail inmates led the Delhi cops to uncover a sinister plot to murder two of the inmates alleged to have been involved in riots. On further interrogation, the cops learnt that Shahid, Aslam, Azeemushan and Abdus Sami who were plotting the murder were inspired by the terrorist organization Islamic state and wanted revenge for supposed desecration and vandalization of a mosque and some of their community members being killed.
According to The Times of India report:
“In January first week, when cops intercepted a call from Tihar Jail as part of their surveillance and security exercise, they realized that it was not just another bid by an inmate to get some things he required from his associates or family. One of the items demanded seemed quite unusual. He wanted mercury. After a brief search on the internet, senior officers were informed and they were left alarmed with the development. DCP Pramod Kushwaha then put together a team comprising inspector Sanjay Gupta and others to dig deeper. This was the beginning of a month-long operation.
Subsequently, surveillance was mounted on the caller, Shahid, and the recipient, Aslam, a relative and associate of the inmate. Shahid turned out to be a dangerous inmate. When his records were checked, police found that he was in jail for gang rape and murder. In 2015, his friend and he had gang-raped a woman and brutally killed her. The men did not even spare her two children as they had seen them committing the crime.
A watch was kept on Aslam and it was found that he had bought a lot of thermometers and filled a tiny perfume bottle with the mercury extracted after breaking them. He was soon arrested. He told police that Shahid had tasked him to smuggle the mercury inside the jail, which was to be used to kill someone. He didn’t know the target’s identity.
Special Cell then took Shahid on remand from the court. During interrogation, he allegedly revealed that he had come in contact with inmates Azeemushan and Abdus Sami, who were Islamic State operatives. They had motivated him to kill two menwho had allegedly desecrated and vandalized a mosque and killed a few members of their community during the riots.
Shahid said he was impressed with the Islamic State ideology from what was explained to him. Convinced and motivated to seek revenge, he agreed to carry out the task. The plan was to stage a brawl when the inmates came together and administer the mercury. Sami and Azeemushan were then taken in for questioning.
The trio had met in jail number 3 where the plan was allegedly hatched. One of Azeemushan’s associates in his IS module was an Unani doctor, who had once explained to him about the concept of mercury poisoning, said a police source.
However, the two alleged IS operatives have not been arrested yet. Refusing to share any details, Kushwaha told TOI, “The investigation is on and we will share information after the completion of the probe.” But a source said that a third person had been questioned too. His identity has not yet been questioned too. His identity has not yet been revealed.
Sami was among 15 people convicted in an IS case probed by National Investigation Agency (NIA). Azeemushan was also arrested and charged by NIA in a terror case. Both belong to the Amroha IS module. Between 2013 and 2015, IS recruiters based abroad had created small modules of footsoldiers like Sami and Azeemushan. They were given names like Harkat-ul-Harb-E-Islam and Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind, police said.
These groups owed their allegiance to IS and its former chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and aimed to establish a caliphate in Bharat by resorting to large-scale terrorist attacks in Delhi-NCR. Their handler was identified as Yusuf al-Hindi alias Shafi Armar alias Anjan Bhai, who was based in Syria. He was the IS communications head before being killed in an airstrike.”
(Featured Image Source: TOI)
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