Eleven people with links to terror outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and HUJI, and planning to assassinate leading Karnataka politicians, some journalists and Hindu leaders have been arrested in Karnataka and a "catastrophe" averted, a top police officer said Thursday.
"A catastrophe has been averted in Karnataka following the arrests," state police chief Lalrokhuma Pachau told reporters here.
The eleven - six arrested from Bangalore and five from northern town of Hubli - were "handled" by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HUJI) operators based in Saudi Arabia, Bangalore city Police Commissioner B.G. Jyothiprakash Mirji said at the joint press meet.
The eleven were arrested late Wednesday, Mirji said.
Arms and ammunition, including a foreign made 7.65mm pistol and many rounds, have been seized from those arrested in Bangalore, he said.