2 Lashkar men arrested in New Delhi

The Delhi police have arrested two operatives of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Laskhar-e-Tayiba in New Delhi.

The police said the two were planning strikes on the capital's capital.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested Gulzar Ahmed Ganai and Mohd Amin Hazam, both from Jammu and Kashmir, on Sunday night in Mahipalpur in southwest New Delhi, a senior police official said.

Gulzar, 28, is a second year BA student at the Government Degree College, Baramulla and Amin Hazam is a junior assistant in revenue department, and was posted at Pattan.

Both of them were 'carriers' and were working for the Lashkar for money.

The police have recovered 1.5 kg of RDX procured from Mumbai, Rs 6 lakh and two detonators from them and taken into custody the person who had provided them shelter in the capital, a senior official said.

"The duo had arrived in New Delhi in the last week of November and then went to Mumbai on the instructions of Abu Tahir, a district commander of the Lashkar. They then collected the explosives from a person identified as Nazir at Gateway of India," Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Karnal Singh said.

The police added that they are yet to crack the exact plans of the terrorists.

"They had instructions to proceed to their hideout in New Delhi and wait for further directions for delivering the explosives," Singh said.

Though the duo had procured the explosives from Mumbai, the police are yet to establish any links with the multiple blasts on local trains that rocked the metropolis on July 11.

Officials said the two had earlier collected funds through hawala channels in Delhi and had delivered it in Tahir, Jammu and Kashmir.

The arrest comes two days ahead of the 5th anniversary of the attack on Parliament: December 13, 2001.

In the last two months, the special cell of the Delhi police have arrested 13 terrorists and foiled several plots to carry out strikes in the capital.