Major terror module linked to Dawood and ISI arrested in Delhi; 9 arrested

A special cell in Delhi on Saturday busted a major terror cell linked to Dawood Ibrahim’s network and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and arrested nine persons who were allegedly planning attacks on critical facilities, security personnel and religious places in the capital, sources told ANI on Saturday.

The police also recovered a substantial cache of arms, hand grenades and explosives from the possession of the arrested accused.

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According to ANI, citing sources, the module was carefully developed by Pakistan’s intelligence establishment over a long period of time with the specific aim of carrying out terror attacks in the country’s capital.

Those arrested are said to include individuals of Nepalese origin who were also part of the network.

Initial investigations revealed alleged operational links between the arrested suspects, Pakistani handlers and operatives connected to the Mumbai underworld network.

Sources told ANI that the accused were tasked with targeting high-value critical equipment, security personnel and prominent religious places in Delhi.

The operation led to the seizure of firearms, advanced explosive materials and several hand grenades, helping to avert a potential security threat to the state capital.

The Delhi Police Special Cell has launched a detailed investigation into the group’s funding sources, recruitment methods and logistical infrastructure. Authorities are also scrutinizing the involvement of handlers and local accomplices allegedly linked to the terrorist plot.

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Meanwhile, exactly a month ago, Indian law enforcement agencies made a major breakthrough against the D-Company network when Mohammad Salim Dola, a high-ranking associate of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India from Turkey.

Dola, who had been on the run since 2020, was apprehended at a residence in Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district following a targeted operation by the Istanbul Police Department’s Narcotics Crime Unit and was processed for deportation, ANI reported.

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He arrived at the Delhi Technical Airport and was produced before a Delhi court, which granted a two-day transit remand to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to transport him to Mumbai in connection with a 2023 NCB Mumbai case involving an Interpol red notice under the NDPS Act, ANI reported.

The major operation coincides with an ongoing investigation in India, where suspects arrested in the Kurla area of Mumbai have reportedly admitted to acting on Doly’s instructions. Their questioning led authorities to recover more than 126 kilograms of mephedrone and ₹25.22 crore in cash.

Officials, who are considered a key figure in overseeing Dawood’s global narcotics network, believe Dola’s arrest could yield crucial information about D-Company’s cross-border drug-trafficking routes through West Asia and Europe, the hawala networks allegedly used to channel drug proceeds to organized crime, and the sleeper cells and distribution networks believed to be active in Mumbai and surrounding states.