ATS Raid: Suspects' plan to poison water would have tanked

Two of the four tanks the arrested accused were allegedly planning on attacking. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

While the nine men arrested from Mumbra and Aurangabad allegedly made sure that their supposed plan for a citywide attack held water, those working to maintain the reservoirs say the group's plan would have tanked. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) found out that the leader of the group, Mohsin Khan, had conducted a recce of reservoirs that supply water to Aurangabad in order to mix poisonous chemicals in it. The group had surveyed four such tanks with a total capacity of supplying around 75 lakh litres of water. Following their arrest earlier this week, ATS sleuths had taken Mohsin to the reservoirs in the afternoon on January 22 to know what their exact plans were.

After arresting the nine men, ATS had claimed the group were planning on executing mass killings by contaminating food and water. ATS had also claimed that the accused had planned on mixing chemicals in the water at the Kumbh Mela and attack other places as well. During investigation, ATS said they found pictures of water tanks in the personal computer of Mushahidul Islam.

Revealed location
When cops questioned him about the tanks, he revealed the location of one were located in the CIDCO area of Aurangabad city, near Chistiya Chowk. Cops then took Mohsin to the tank to know more about the plans. mid-day also visited the site. However, employees at the reservoir weren't buying the cops' claim about the alleged attack, saying a huge supply of chemicals would be needed to do this. Also, the supposed attackers would have to break through a tight layer of surveillance if they were to mix the chemicals. An Aurangabad Municipal Corporation employee who works there said, "We have three vertical water tanks and one underground tank having a total capacity 75 lakh litres. These tanks provide water to 40 per cent of Aurangabad district."

Can't do it
When mid-day asked the employee about the tank being a possible terror attack target, they refused to comment on it. "Everyday many persons come and go here. Some even come to refill their bottles, like these boy," said the employee pointing at three students filling their bottles from the tap of one of the tanks. "I can't imagine how much chemical they might have needed if they want to poison people through these tanks. If they tried to do this, the security guard and municipality personnel will certainly catch them," the employee added.

A security guard at the tanks said, "Yes, ATS had come here with one person in his 30s. At the time, we did not know what their plan was or why the cops had taken them, but if they had indeed planned such an attack, they would have needed a huge stock of chemicals and guts to do it. With the constant surveillance here, I don't think it would have been possible". Meanwhile, cops detained two more boys in the case in their 20s from Bajipura in the wee hours of Thursday.

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