Nine arrested for planning attacks on critical sites in Delhi linked to Dawood and ISI

The Special Cell of Delhi Police dismantled a terror module connected to the Dawood Ibrahim network and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), detaining nine individuals on Saturday. These suspects were allegedly plotting attacks on critical installations, security personnel, and religious places within the national capital, according to sources.

Authorities recovered a significant arsenal including firearms, hand grenades, and explosives from those arrested. The module was reportedly developed over an extended period by Pakistan’s intelligence apparatus with the specific aim of conducting terror attacks in Delhi. The detained persons are said to include individuals of Nepali origin involved in the network. Preliminary investigations have uncovered suspected operational links between the accused and Pakistan-backed handlers, as well as operatives connected to the Mumbai underworld.

Sources indicated that the suspects were tasked with targeting high-value critical infrastructure, security forces, and prominent religious sites in Delhi. The weapons and explosives seized during the operation neutralised an immediate security threat to the capital. The Delhi Police Special Cell has launched an in-depth investigation into the funding sources, recruitment methods, and logistical networks supporting the terror module. The roles of handlers and local facilitators implicated in the conspiracy are also under thorough examination.

In a related development from exactly one month ago, Indian law enforcement officers secured a significant breakthrough against the D-Company network. Mohammad Salim Dola, a senior associate of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India from Turkey. Dola, absconding since 2020, was arrested from a residence in Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district following a targeted operation by the Narcotics Crimes Division of the Istanbul Police Department, and processed for deportation. He arrived at Delhi Technical Airport and was produced before a Delhi court, which granted a two-day transit remand to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) for transfer to Mumbai in connection with a 2023 NCB Mumbai case involving an Interpol Red Notice under the NDPS Act.

This high-profile arrest aligns with ongoing investigations in India. Associates apprehended in Mumbai’s Kurla area reportedly confessed to receiving instructions from Dola, leading to the seizure of over 126 kilograms of mephedrone and Rs 25,22,000.

Officials regard Dola as a key figure managing Dawood Ibrahim’s international drug operations. His custody is expected to yield crucial insights into the transit of contraband through West Asia and Europe, the hawala channels used for laundering drug money into organised crime, and the sleeper cells and distributors active in Mumbai and surrounding states.