4 terror suspects arrested, Delhi-NCR on alert as ITBP IG's car goes missing ahead of Republic Day

New Delhi: The special cell of Delhi Police has arrested four terrorists, who were allegedly in touch with terror group ISIS.

The investigation till now has revealed that the four suspects were in touch with Shafi Armar, who handles recruitment for Ansar Al Twahid, the Indian offshoot of the terror group.

The police team busted a massive terror module that was planning to carry out a terror attack at the ongoing Ardh Kumbh in Haridwar. According to police sources, the module was planning a strike in Delhi-NCR region as well.

Meanwhile, an alert was issued throughout the national capital region after the official vehicle of Inspector General of ITBP went missing. The Tata Safari car was allegedly stolen from the residence of the IG in Sector 23, Noida.

The development is being taken very seriously by the security forces as it comes ahead of the Republic Day.

Officials said the white Tata Safari bearing registration number CH-01 GA 2915 of ITBP Inspector General (IG) Anand Swarup was stolen from his Sector-23 residence at around 3:30 AM.

They said the guard on duty in the complex alerted about the missing vehicle after which an FIR was lodged by the officer in Sector 24 police station in Noida.

The vehicle was parked late last night after it came back from Delhi, they said.

Swarup, a 1992-batch Indian Police Service officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is posted as IG (Provisioning) at the headquarters of the border guarding force in Delhi. ITBP has instituted a court of inquiry into the incident, they said, adding the IG was posted in Delhi few months back on transfer from Mussoorie.

Officials said the SUV was purchased few months back and has a blue beacon, a two-star police IG plate and an ITBP flag in the front.

The police are making all efforts to trace the vehicle in the wake of the recent Pathankot attack where terrorists had overpowered a Punjab police SP riding a similar vehicle to reach the IAF base before launching the deadly strike.

There have been instances in the past when vehicles with beacon, including during the Parliament attack, were used to launch terror attacks by hoodwinking security officials.

(With PTI Inputs)