‘LeT operatives had planned more terror attacks in country’

PATNA: Alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives

Mohammad Nasir Khan

and Imran Khan had planned more terror attacks in the country as per sources privy to the investigation into the

Darbhanga

parcel blast case being carried out by National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The blast took place on platform number one of Darbhanga railway station on June 17. An IED was kept inside a parcel containing clothes which had reached there from Secunderabad junction.

The NIA had taken brothers Nasir, who was trained in Pakistan to manufacture IED, and Imran into custody on Saturday and

Kafil Ansari

on Sunday. They were then taken to Delhi for interrogation.

The alleged LeT recruiter, Haji Salim, is lodged in Beur central jail, Patna. All are from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli. The brothers were arrested on June 30 from Hyderabad where they had settled two decades back. The others were arrested from Kairana on July 2.

Sources said the IED containing liquid explosives inside a glass bottle smaller than size of a cough syrup container was the first one Nasir and Imran had prepared for live test. “Had it exploded successfully, larger version was to be manufactured for future terror attacks across the country,” a source said.

Sources said that the two brothers had told NIA that their plan was to explode the IED inside train’s parcel van near Kazipet junction.

“However, the NIA and intelligence agencies have suspicion over the information shared by the duo. They strongly suspect that the parcel containing the IED was to be taken somewhere from Darbhanga, but it exploded due to mishandling by a worker who dumped it on ground,” a source said.

Sources said Nasir and Imran had developed the IED based on concept of mixing of two liquid chemicals, causing explosion with generation of heat and fire.

A source said the brothers had told NIA that they used a cardboard as separating layer in Darbhanga parcel IED.