The common man seldom hears about India’s unsung heroes. But an unprecedented act by the counter-intelligence operation has saved the lives of many, by preventing an Afghan operative of the Islamic State (IS) from executing suicide-bombing in New Delhi, Indian Express has reported.
Even though he was arrested in September 2017, the details of the operations were only recently confirmed to Indian Express by diplomatic and intelligence sources.
Described as a son of a ‘wealthy businessman’, the Afghan operative was directed to spend his time in the national capital, and even took an admission in a private engineering college, on the outskirts of New Delhi.
To ensure that they keep a grasp over the targeted Afghan bomber, security agencies had deployed 80 security personnel for “physical surveillance” during one crucial month of the operation.
The operation began when the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) had suspected the plot when they found out that $50,000 was being transferred from Dubai to a place in Afghanistan.
The investigation continued for about 18 months in places like Dubai, Afghanistan and New Delhi. This resulted in a breakthrough information that that 12 Islamic State operatives were being sent to execute bomb attacks after being trained in Pakistan.
The news report also suggests that as indicated from his questioning, the Manchester attacks in the UK, which killed 23 people, could have been triggered by a member of the same IS group of 12.
Out of this, the Afghan youth was sent to India’s capital, where he was reportedly seen roaming around malls, supermarkets, the airport and other such places, in preparation to attack.
The agencies saw and understood enough about the operations and thus, decided to intervene. They intercepted a few phone calls and even used a “planted man” to provide the Afghan bomber with explosives sans the trigger. The Indian “plant” even took care of the Afghan bomber’s accommodation in New Delhi.
Finally, the IS operative was arrested by the Indian agencies in New Delhi around September 2017. Citing sources, it was reported that the catch was of such “high value”, that the IS bomber’s revelations during questioning probably helped US forces hit a number of Taliban targets in Afghanistan recently.
It has also been reported that those who witnessed the interrogation of the Afghan IS bomber in New Delhi, said that US agents have also joined the interrogation along with the Indian security agencies. As a direct result, his confessions have even helped US forces strike at many Taliban targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It goes without saying, that the daring counter-intelligence operation is a phenomenal achievement in a globally groundbreaking interception.
