Indian police foiled a possible terrorist attack Thursday, seizing around 11 pounds of explosives from a car parked outside a railway station in Ambala, Haryana, the BBC reports.
Police said the explosives were intended for use in a terrorist attack in New Delhi during the upcoming Diwali celebrations, Hinduism's most important festival, when large crowds gather in shopping areas and other public spaces.
"Five detonators, two timer devices, five kg explosives in two packets and two batteries were seized from the car lying parked outside the railway station," the Indian Express quoted Haryana's Director General of Police, Ranjiv Dalal, as saying.
Police said the plot was a joint operation involving Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba — an Islamist outfit which focuses mainly on the dispute over Kashmir — and the Indian Babbar Khalsa International — a Punjab-based Sikh terrorist organization fighting for a separate country, the BBC said.
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