Suspected Hizbul terrorist, with plans of attack on Ganesh Chaturthi, arrested

Terrorist organisations based in Pakistan may have plans of targeting Indian cities on or ahead of the festive season.

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New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh's Anti-Terrorim Squad (ATS) arrested a suspected terrorist in Kanpur on Thursday who may be a member or have strong links with Pakistan-based terror-outfit Hizbul Mujahideen.

News agency ANI reported that the suspected terrorist was arrested in Kanpur after ATS launched a stealth operation to track his movements. Acting on a tip-off, the ATS pinned down his location and managed to make the arrest. OP Singh, DGP, said that the accused is of Indian nationality and that he had plans of carrying out attacks on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. "During questioning he told us that he had gone for training to Kashmir in April 2017. He apparently had plans to attack on occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. He is of Indian nationality and is a literate person," he said.

Hizbul is believed to have become very active in recent months with various reports from intelligence agencies reporting increased movement along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. In the days leading up to Independence Day celebrations last month, there were warnings issued about possible infiltration bid from terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.

Terror outfits like Hizbul, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have been receiving active support from Pakistan's army and Inter-Services-Intelligence. It has been reported that the terrorists receive training and arms and ammunition in order to target locations not just in J&K but in various cities across India. Ahead of the festive season here, Indian intelligence agencies are leaving no stone unturned to thwart their nefarious designs.