The ISIS operative arrested from Dhaula Kuan had an intension to carry out terror attack in the national capital around August 15 but his attempt was foiled due to security arrangements, said Pramod Singh Kushwaha, Delhi DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) Delhi Police Special Cell.

36-year-old Yusuf aka Abu Yusuf was arrested with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by the Delhi Police Special Cell from central Delhi’s Ridge Road area after an exchange of fire late Friday.

According to the Delhi Police, the suspect was on a bike when intercepted by the cops.

A police team had received information about Yusuf’s movement in the ridge area between Dhaula Kuan and Karol Bagh, following which it laid a trap.

The DCP had earlier informed that he was a ‘lone wolf’ who had planned an attack in the national capital.

Following the arrest, the police recovered two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a pistol from the man’s possession.

Briefing media, DCP Special Cell said Abu Yusuf’s movement was restricted by the Coronavirus pandemic earlier. He then planned to make an attempt to carry out an attack in the national capital around Independence Day, but failed due to the security arrangements made.

According to the police official, he was planning to install the pressure cooker IEDs at a heavy footfall area in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the two pressure-cooker IEDs recovered from the ISIS operative have been neutralised by NSG bomb squad. Yusuf told the Delhi Police that he himself had tested the explosive devices at his village a few months ago.

The ISIS operative was also in communication with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) operatives.

Yusuf, who goes by various aliases, is said to be a native of Balarampur in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the DCP, he was in the direct touch of ISIS commanders and had passports made of his wife and four children. Earlier, he was handled by Yusuf Alhindi, who was killed in Syria and then handled by a Pakistani, Abu Huzafa, who later got killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, UP ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar has said that security agencies in the state have been placed on high alert while adding that the possibility of Yusuf’s other associates being active cannot be denied.

Meanwhile, the ISIS operative has been sent to a eight-day police remand.

The arrest comes days after a doctor was arrested in Bengaluru for having alleged links with the terrorist group ISIS.

An ophthalmologist, Abdur Rahman, who worked at the MS Ramaiah Medical College in Bengaluru, was arrested by the anti-terror National Investigation Agency (NIA) for alleged links to ISIS operatives on August 17.