New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have averted terror strikes in the national capital by arresting two suspected militants belonging to the Hizbul Mujahideen group.

The suspects, identified as Ashiq Ali and Javed Ahmad from Jammu and Kashmir, were allegedly plotting a series of terror attacks in the run-up to the August 15 Independence Day celebrations.

According to P.N. Aggarwal, joint commissioner of police (special cell), the two militants were picked up from a park of Daryaganj locality of central Delhi on Thursday night with two AK-47 assault rifles, two grenades, four magazines of ammunition, cash and documents.

Interestingly, the two were apprehended hours within the federal authorities issued a warning that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba may carry out terror attacks in New Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad, based on intelligence inputs.

The spot the duo was arrested from is barely a kilometre from the Red Fort, the traditional venue of the Independence Day celebrations. Local authorities were already in the process of sanitizing the historic 17th century fort and denied entry to tourists and other visitors.

Delhi Police and other intelligence agencies were interrogating the two captured militants to get more leads about their plans and their local associates.

Addressing a press conference, Aggarwal said that the duo was picked up from a white car bearing a Haryana state registration plate, which turned out to be fake, as they were apparently moving towards the Red Fort.

The officer claimed that the duo was in touch with their handlers in Pakistan over phone. He further said that both Ali and Ahmad had been associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen for four years and had crossed over to India from the Nepal border on August 3.

Delhi Police are already in a state of high alert and have intensified precautionary checks at all hotels and guest houses besides inspecting credentials of people who have rented out residential accommodation in the city over the past few months.