On Sunday, a massive terror plot targeting northern India was foiled after a joint operation by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Haryana Police, and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) led to the recovery of around 350 kilograms of explosives, an AK-47 rifle, and a large quantity of ammunition from a rented accommodation in Faridabad’s Dhauj village, located on the outskirts of Delhi.
Earlier reports had claimed that RDX was found during the search, but police later clarified that the explosive was ammonium nitrate, a highly inflammable chemical often used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Notably, the operation was based on intelligence inputs gathered from interrogations of terror suspects arrested in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Who is Muzammil Shakil?
Police identified the tenant of the Dhauj house as Dr Muzammil Shakil, an MBBS and a lecturer at Al-Falah University, located just a few kilometres away.
“Dr Muzammil, whose name appeared with varying spellings across reports, was teaching at Al-Falah University of Dhauj,” said Faridabad Police Commissioner Satender Kumar Gupta during a press briefing.
Dr. Shakil had rented the accommodation three months ago. He was taken into custody by Jammu and Kashmir Police on October 30, following the arrest of another accused, Dr. Adil Ahmad Rather, believed to be part of the same terror module.
Commissioner Gupta confirmed that raids resulted in the recovery of “around 360 kg of inflammable material, likely ammonium nitrate, not RDX.”
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“Along with it, 20 timers, batteries, and a Kalashnikov assault rifle with three magazines and 83 live rounds, a pistol with eight live rounds, and other equipment were recovered. The joint operation is still ongoing,” he added.
Sources revealed that the AK-47 rifle linked to Muzammil was found inside a Swift Dzire car belonging to a woman doctor employed at Al-Falah University.
Police have not confirmed the woman’s involvement but stated that her role remains under investigation.
