Indian police have arrested three suspected members of an Indian wing of al-Qaida, an officer said on Thursday, describing the detentions as the first
successful raid on the militant group since it was set up last year.
Militants announced the formation of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) in September 2014, vowing to raise the flag of jihad across the region.
Arvind Deep, a special police commissioner in the capital, said police were interrogating the three members of the group who were arrested in different Indian states.
"We have busted this module before they could do anything, so it is a big achievement," Deep told Reuters.
One of the suspects, identified as Mohammad Asif, was a founding member of the group, police said.
Delhi police said in a statement the arrests were likely to reveal other al-Qaida affiliates in India.
India has in the past faced attacks from home-grown Islamist militants and by anti-India groups based in Pakistan. Until the formation of AQIS, there was no evidence that al-Qaida had a presence in India.