New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has handed over the probe into an ISKP-linked terror plot to the National Investigation Agency, Ahmedabad, amid concerns of a wider conspiracy linking arrests in Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Red Fort blast.

The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Hyderabad-based doctor Ahmed Mohiuddin Syed, along with Mohammad Suhail (23) and Azad Suleman Shaikh (20) from Banaskantha. Investigators allege the trio conducted reconnaissance of the Azaad Mandi fruit market in Delhi and the Naroda Fruit Market in Ahmedabad.

According to the probe, the accused were plotting a ricin poison attack and planning strikes using firearms and other weapons. Ricin is an extremely lethal toxin with no known antidote. The arrests were made just days before the Red Fort blast in Delhi, which claimed over 10 lives. Central agencies are examining whether the cases are part of a coordinated conspiracy inspired or directed by ISKP, ISIS, and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The NIA has re-registered the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (Sections 13 and 18), along with Sections 148 and 149 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 25(1)(B)(a) of the Arms Act.

The agency will analyse digital footprints, mobile phone data, encrypted chat logs, financial transactions, and social media trails of suspects arrested across the three states and the Union Territory. It will also probe the alleged use of drones to drop sophisticated weapons along the Rajasthan–Pakistan border.

Earlier, a Gujarat ATS team raided Dr Syed’s residence in Hyderabad and allegedly recovered raw chemical material believed to be used to prepare ricin. Investigators suspect the module was planning large-scale attacks around December 6, the anniversary of the Babri demolition. DeshGujarat