NEW DELHI, Feb 4: Indian police on Sunday arrested four suspected militants after a shootout with officers in New Delhi, reports said.
The four rebels belonged to the Jaish-i-Mohammad militant group, one of many battling Indian rule in disputed Kashmir, the Press Trust of India news agency reported quoting police.
Grenades, detonators, revolvers, three kilograms of high grade RDX explosives, 10,000 US dollars, and 50,000 rupees (1,110 dollars) were also recovered from the four, the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak reported.
Reports said police received a tip-off the militants would be meeting about 1.5 kilometres from Connaught Place, a commercial and business hub in New Delhi.
Counter-insurgency officers closed in on the men as they arrived but the militants started firing at them, PTI said quoting police.
The police fired several rounds before arresting them, the report said.
“Their interrogation is going on,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar told PTI.
Three of the men arrested were Kashmiris while the fourth was identified as Shahid Gaffoor, a resident of Sialkot in Pakistan, PTI also said.
Jaish-i-Mohammed is one of the two groups blamed for the attack on India's parliament complex in December 2001.
That attack nearly sparked India's fourth war with Pakistan but both sides were pulled back from the brink through diplomatic efforts spear-headed by the United States.—AFP