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NEW DELHI, India – In a major operation headed by India’s anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a terror plot involving a series of suicide bombings by a new ISIS-inspired cell has been foiled. 

The multi-city raid that was carried out in coordination with the anti-terror squad in Uttar Pradesh (ATS) on Wednesday, led to ten arrests and the seizure of arms and ammunition, including a rocket launcher. 

NIA has revealed that the raids targeted a new ISIS module called ‘Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam’ that was in the advanced stage of preparation for a series of bomb blasts targeting the country’s renowned political figures. 

According to the NIA, ten members of the local militant group inspired by the Islamic State group were arrested in the raids and six other suspects were being questioned over their alleged links with the outfit.

Following the raids on Wednesday, NIA spokesman Alok Mittal said, “Arms and ammunition were recovered from the raids across 17 locations, including in New Delhi.”

The Seelampur area in the country’s capital was raided by NIA investigators.

Officials said that five people linked to the new ISIS module had been arrested in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.

According to Asim Arun, Inspector General of Police of Uttar Prades ATS, one of the five people arrested over links to a terror group was held from a madrasa in Amroha.

The NIA spokesman added that the group was prepped to strike several targets ahead of the country’s Republic Day on January 26.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Mittal told reporters, “They were at an advanced stage of carrying a series of blasts. They wanted to explode remote-controlled bombs and even conduct fidayeen (suicide) attacks.”

According to the NIA spokesman, the group had successfully developed a home-made rocket launcher and had attempted to make suicide vests.

One of the accused held by investigators is an engineer and the NIA has stated that the unknown mastermind of the module was based abroad.

The raids on Wednesday are carried out a week after the NIA raided houses in various parts of Tamil Nadu, arresting seven people over alleged links with ISIS. 

The seven people arrested in the operation were accused of conspiring in the murder of leaders of some Hindu outfits.

Over the last few years, India’s anti-terror authorities have made similar announcements, claiming to have foiled ISIS-inspired terror cells.

Further, India’s security agencies have repeatedly raised concerns over the radicalization of men over the internet.

Yet, apart from a few isolated cases, India’s nearly 175 million-strong minority Muslim community has largely remained insulated from ISIS influence.

In December last year, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs revealed in a report that the NIA had arrested as many as 103 accused in cases against ISIS sympathizers or modules.

Small ISIS cells have been busted by the country’s intelligence agencies from Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.