Amid high alert on New Year's eve, police on Sunday arrested two alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists and claimed to have foiled a plan to trigger bomb blasts in the busy Paharganj, scene of deadly pre-Diwali explosion just over a year ago. | They were proceeding to plant explosives in Paharganj, barely a kilometre away from Connaught Place, the heart of New Year celebrations. |
"Happy new year. Stick 'em up, explodo-boyz!"
Two improvised explosive devices were seized from the duo who arrived in the capital from Jammu by the Andaman Express, Joint Commissioner of Police (special cell) Karnal Singh said. The LeT operatives were planning to plant the explosives in the busy market, next to the railway station, and leave by the same train to Chennai, Singh said. The IEDs were in the form of toy cars.
Immediately after the arrest, police carried out a search in the railway station area apprehending that the terrorists might have kept some explosives in the vicinity. Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad was pressed into service to scour through the area. On eve of Diwali last year, terrorists had struck in Paharganj and two other places in the capital by triggering serial blasts in which 65 people had died.