ISI's Micro-Module Terror Plot Targets India's Railway Lifeline, ATS Busts Cell

These modules are relatively smaller and comprise just four to five persons, an official said.

These modules resemble the ones that the Indian Mujahideen had set up under Yasin Bhatkal. The first module of the Indian Mujahideen comprised over 20 members, and owing to too much communication, the agencies were able to track them. However, Indian Mujahideen 2.0 under Yasin Bhatkal comprised just five members, and since the communication was very limited, the agencies were unable to track them easily. This module managed to carry out a series of audacious attacks in various parts of the country.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the ISI is plotting a series of attacks on railway stations. The aim is to bring to a grinding halt the railway services and also instil fear and panic in the minds of the people.

Since 2014, the Indian Railways has seen an upward surge. Over 31,000 kilometres of new tracks have been laid, with stretches upgraded for 130-160 kilometres per hour speeds. The indigenous Vande Bharat trains have added to the railways' success story.

The ISI realises that executing terror attacks at railway stations, while also targeting the trains and railway tracks, could severely dent the sector. The railways are the most popular form of transport, and hence creating damage here would send across a huge message.

Moreover, the ISI has been planning such attacks ahead of the Pahalgam attack anniversary, which falls on April 22.

In recent months, the police have busted several modules, and the investigations have learnt that the plan was to blow up a railway station. The ISI had even instructed the members of these smaller modules to install CCTV cameras at railway stations, so that they could study the logistics using the live feed. The Ghaziabad police recently unearthed a case whereby it was found that the CCTV cameras were put up at a railway station so that a reconnaissance could be carried out using the live feed.

Another official said that the intention is not to carry out a big strike, and on the anvil are a series of smaller attacks at multiple railway stations. Smaller strikes being carried out by a micro module help in avoiding heat and detection, the official added.

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), this week busted a module and nabbed four suspected handlers from Lucknow. Saquib, Arbab, Vikas Gehlawar and Lokesh were arrested on Thursday. They had planned on carrying out attacks at railway signal boxes, the control centre which manages train movements, signals and track switches within a specific station area or block section to ensure the safety of passengers.

These persons had also planned on targeting crowded railway stations. Their first target was the Lucknow railway station, an ATS official said.

Officials say that the ISI has planned attacks pan-India. However, in the first phase, the targets were largely in North India, especially Uttar Pradesh. The footfall of passengers is more in such places, and hence the targets were drawn from here.

The ISI-backed modules have executed train blasts in the past as well. The biggest one was the Mumbai train bombings of 2006, in which over 100 people lost their lives. An attack on a railway station is a scar on the minds of the public who use this form of public transport most extensively, the official noted.

- IANS