India claims arresting alleged LeT militants

Chidambaram says the suspects possessed bomb-making material.

NEW DELHI:

India’s home minister on Wednesday said that the police had foiled a major attack by suspected militants from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group who were caught at a rail station in possession of explosive material.

P Chidambaram said that two men were arrested at New Delhi’s main station after a tip-off from intelligence agencies and work by three state police agencies.

“They were planning to
detonate one or more bombs in a crowded locality,” he said.

A senior New Delhi police official, P N Agarwal, said that security forces had recovered material for making bombs from the suspects.

“We have recovered items required for making an improvised explosive device, passports and memory cards that show how to make a bomb and training in weapons handling,” Agarwal said. “We are expecting one or two more arrests,” he added.

The pair will be detained for 10 days and will appear before a local court.

An unspecified number of other suspects were also detained in connection with the alleged plot, Chidambaram said.

LeT, which means ‘The Army of the Pure’ in Urdu, is one of the most powerful militant groups in Pakistan and is blamed by India for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The location, where the suspects have been detained, remains undisclosed.

The arrests, if followed by convictions, will be an intelligence coup for the Indian security forces that have been criticised for failing to prevent or catch those responsible for a string of blasts over the last few years. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2012.