Delhi,Jan,25 : Changing its plan of taking some of the men arrested in Bengaluru for alleged IS links to a forested area where they held meetings in Karnataka, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took all six terror suspects to Delhi on Sunday.
They were flown to Delhi in six separate commercial flights as the DGCA norms don’t allow more than one arrested person to be taken in one flight.
CISF sources said the move was to ensure no untoward incident happens during the flight. The six suspects, including a software engineer and a chemical engineering student, were picked up from Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Tumkuru during a nationwide crackdown on Friday.
Sources said there were plans to take some of the arrested men to Tumakuru where they conducted meetings. Asif Ali, who was arrested from JJ Nagar, used to organise prayer sessions of Maulana Anzarshah Qasmi, a radical preacher suspected to have links with al-Qaida.
It was during one such session that Syed Mujahid Hussein from Tumakuru, Mohammed Afzal from Saraipalya, and Abdul Ahad were believed to have met. The group, however, grew distant from Ansarshah Qasmi, as he was opposed to the Islamic State. The group also held a meeting in a forested area in Tumakuru district and NIA sleuths wanted to visit the area as well. However the plan was later dropped, sources added.
