11 Hyderabad youths picked up for IS links

In a joint operation, the Hyderabad police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials picked up eleven youngsters from Old City of Hyderabad late on Tuesday night. These youngsters were, the police said, were getting ready to join terror outfit Islamic State.

Three of them were identified. While Abdul and Habeeb hailed from Chandrayanagutta, weapons were seized from a person called Farhad.

They got in touch with IS handlers operating from abroad through social networking sites like Facebook. Initial reports said some cash and explosive material were seized from the detained youngsters. This is the second major operation against IS linked Hyderabadi youngsters busted by the police in the past few months.

A IS module comprising six persons from Hyderabad was busted during the country-wide raids by the NIA, which included raids in Hyderabad three months ago.

The module secured explosive substance and even conducted blast on experimental basis in Narsapur forest of Medak district. Police are verifying if the six Hyderabadis detained last night are connected to the Old module. The detained persons were being interrogated.