The two terrorists from the Muslim Defence Force (MDF), an Islamic fundamentalist outfit having links with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba arrested here a week ago, were planning a major offensive against religious and political leaders in the state, Chennai police commissioner K. Vijay Kumar said today.Their other targets were important places of worship and statues of social leaders, Vijay Kumar told a press briefing. Almost eight kg of powerful explosives, seized from the two terrorists, were sent for laboratory analysis, he said.The militants had been identified as Zakariah, 28, alias Abu Yahiha from Royapettah and Toufiq, 27, alias Yasser of Adhiramapattinam in Thanjavur district. Their passports were also seized.Three more persons from Thanjavur district and another from Tirunelveli district had been picked up by the police. A search is on for two more persons.After Abu Salem another terrorist and a namesake of the infamous underworld gangster, was shot dead in Hyderabad recently, the city police received information on his links in Chennai.Toufiq is the prime accused in a murder that took place at Adhiramapattinam in Thanjavur district about two years ago. He escaped to Saudi Arabia and returned to Chennai about three months ago. Zakariah was working in Saudi Arabia as a mechanic and he too returned to the city recently. The MDF was formed in Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Abu Hamsa of Hyderabad following the recent Gujarat riots.
