Terror suspects arrested
The two men, identified as Mohammed Imran, 23, and Mohammed Yunus Saki, 24, were apprehended while trying to steal a motorcycle. They had been experimenting with building and detonating bombs, the reports said.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) – Two Islamic terror suspects detained in India in recent days were plotting to carry out a series of bombings and had carried out surveillance of the Chabad House in Mumbai, Indian media reported on Monday.
The reports, quoting sources in the Maharashtra state anti-terrorism squad, said that during an ongoing probe into a local Islamist terror group known as Al-Sufa, two men were arrested over the weekend in the city of Pune.
They were found to be in possession of explosives, drone equipment, laptops and incriminating books written in Arabic. Among the documents found on a phone were pictures of the Chabad House in Mumbai and its GPS coordinates, the reports said.
Seven people were killed by gunmen at the Chabad House in 2008, including emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg – part of several attacks on Mumbai sites over four days by an Islamist Pakistani group. In total, 166 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Israel’s Channel 12 news reported that Israeli intelligence cooperated in the probe leading to the arrest of the two men and that, in coordination with local authorities, security at the Jewish site had been stepped up.
The report said the investigation was looking at a possible link between the suspects and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). However, Indian media reports said the Al-Sufa group, which emerged in 2015, is most likely linked to jihadist groups in Pakistan.
The two men, identified as Mohammed Imran, 23, and Mohammed Yunus Saki, 24, were apprehended while trying to steal a motorcycle. They had been experimenting with building and detonating bombs, the reports said.
There have been several other terror attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets in India.
In 2021, a blast outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi damaged cars but caused no injuries, in an attack India has said was carried out by the Quds Force branch of Iran’s IRGC.
A letter found close to the scene warned the Israeli ambassador that he was being watched and vowed to avenge the deaths of three “martyrs”: IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed in a 2020 US drone strike; and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the architect of Iran’s nuclear program, killed in a 2020 attack Tehran has blamed on Israel.
In February 2012, the wife of the Israeli military attaché was injured in a car bomb attack in New Delhi. Indian police concluded that Iran was behind that attack too.
It was part of a series of attempted attacks against Israeli targets around the world attributed to Iran during that period.
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