No kumbh terror plot, it was ploy framed by police

Bhopal: There was no Simhastha terror plot to trigger a bloodbath. The explosives cache at an Ujjain hostel by Madhya Pradesh police turned out to be a ploy to settle scores by the men in khaki in a huge anti-climax to claims of jihadi infiltration at the mahakumbh venue.
Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Tuesday claimed the explosives were planted by a constable and his accomplice to implicate someone else.While the accused cop, Ashish Chandel, and his accomplice, Sushil Mishra, have been arrested, the third picked up on suspicion from Ujjain outskirts has been freed after no evidence was found. On March 19, police seized explosives, including detonators from a bag stashed in a hostel room in the temple city.
"The mastermind was police constable Chandel, who is currently posted at Indore with the Lokayukta special police establishment. He and his aide Mishra hatched the conspiracy to implicate another man," MPATS chief Sanjeev Shami told reporters in Bhopal on Tuesday.
Owner of the bag, who checked into room No 212 of Atishay Sheel Jain Hostel on March 18 after showing his Aadhar card at the counter was not terrorist Sajish Khan, but Chandel's aide Sushil Mishra. When he went missing for the whole day, hostel manager Setu Jain got suspicious and informed police.
ATS chief Sanjeev Shami said, "Earlier, Mishra worked in Ashok Nagar and arranged explosives at the behest of Chandel, who was recently transferred to Indore after nearly three-year stint at Ujjain." Chandel hails from Chhindwara and has a parent posting with 7th Battalion, Bhopal.
ATS officials refused to disclose names of people who were being implicated by the two accused. "Reputation and security will be at stake so, their names cannot be disclosed," said Shami.
Revealing the modus operandi, ATS officials said, accused first procured a SIM card in the name of Sajish Khan, a resident of Agar Malwa district, from a shop in Unhel of Ujjain district. Then they also created a fake Aadhar card which they used to check in at the hotel, said officials.
Mishra first checked in at the hostel by the name of Sajish Khan and dumped the explosives in the room. Sources said, accused also left a cell phone with a SIM in the name of Khan and dialled numbers of people they wanted to implicate. A top official told TOI that Chandel was hatching the conspiracy for the past six months.