Hyderabad, June 29 (IANS): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has busted an alleged terror plot in Hyderabad with the arrest of 11 suspects in different parts of the city on Wednesday.

The suspects were picked up from six localities in the old city of Hyderabad during a joint operation by NIA and Andhra Pradesh Police.

The suspects, said to be sympathizers of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), were plotting attacks on shopping malls and crowded places in the city.

Two airguns and a pistol, explosives, electronic devices and Rs 15 lakh cash were recovered during the searches conducted simultaneously.

Informed sources said they were planning bomb attacks and indiscriminate firing at malls and other crowded places. 

Some of the arrested youth were practicing with airguns in Bandlaguda and Chandrayangutta areas.

Mohammed Ibrahim Yazdani and his brother Mohammed Ilyas Yazadni were identified as the main suspects. Both are said to be software professionals. 

Ibrahim, through his Facebook accounts, was trying to recruit youths for the IS.

NIA officials were questioning the accused at an undisclosed location to unravel the entire plot. 

The parents of the arrested youth reached the NIA office in Begumpet. Claiming that their children were innocent, they demanded they be allowed to meet them.