A day after arresting the nine Al-Qaeda members from West Bengal and Kerala for their alleged terror plot nationwide, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has zeroed in on their connection with an Indian affiliate of the global terror group after detecting their contacts and communication through social networking platforms.
Scanning the cellphones of the nine accused, the NIA found that they were members of a WhatsApp group, titled Ghazwat-ul-Hind, which had around 22 members altogether, official sources told this newspaper. Surprisingly, all the conversations were deleted before September 19, sources added.
Ghazwat-ul-Hind is an Indian affiliate of terror group: Al-Qaeda and it has been found by the central intelligence agencies active in Jammu and Kashmir in the past two-three years, a senior NIA officer disclosed on anonymity.
The central agency also blew the…