Hyderabad: The suspected ISIS sympathisers, arrested by the National Investigation Agency last week, were reportedly trying to make chemical weapons (other than bombs) that would release toxic gases.
“Around 5-6 kg urea was kept ready by the terror suspects in order to make improvised explosive devices,” Deccan Chronicle quoted its sources as saying
“Ibrahim Yazdani, his brother Ilyas and Fahad used urea (ammonium nitrate) and nitric acid to prepare urea nitrate in the storeroom of their house in Chandrayana-gutta. The urea nitrate was ready for use and during an explosion, it would have produced toxic fumes like oxides of nitrogen which are harmful to humans. Within an area of 50 metres to 100 metres radius, people who inhale them will become unconscious. So they are chemical weapons,” a bomb-defusing expert of the Telangana State police told Deccan Chronicle.
Though Central Forensic Science Laboratory is yet to receive the samples from the NIA, the state police have confirmed it as urea nitrate. They also found a white chemical in bottles which is nitric acid and another chemical which is hydrogen peroxide. These substances are used to prepare triacetone triperoxide or TATP, which is the main ingredient for making bombs.
“They had downloaded online tutorials from the Net and from YouTube links sent by IS handler Shafi Armar. Urea nitrate is relatively stable and ready to be used to construct an IED. NIA and TS police averted a major terror strike,” an NIA official said.
The bomb expert of the TS police said that the arrested ISIS suspects used to melt the urea. The gas stove, gloves, utensils and masks recovered from them confirms that they prepared Urea Nitrate, which can be easily ignited and releases toxic oxides of nitrogen.
Meanwhile, the Intelligence Bureau has warned that sleeper cells were located in Karimnagar. Earlier, the IB had put on an alert claiming that 90 trained terrorists have sneaked into India from Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
