Four arrested in ‘terror plot inspired by Mumbai’

Counter terrorism police raided six premises across London and arrested four men in a pre-planned operation on Sunday night.

Detectives are now questioning the group of suspected Islamist terrorists amid fears that the men were plotting to launch an attack in Britain.

Dramatic CCTV footage has emerged of one of the arrests, in which counter-terror police are seen tackling a suspect on the upmarket Westbourne Grove in west London.

The men have all been taken to a south London police station for questioning, while six addresses across the capital and two vehicles are searched.

The black-and-white CCTV footage, captured by the 65 & King bar and obtained by ITV News, shows a number of officers wrestle to the ground a 28-year-old man, a British national of Azerbaijani origin, outside the Planet Organic stores around 7pm on Sunday night, before four cars swoop.

At the same time, armed police fired special ammunition – designed to breach doors or burst tyres – to stop a car on Mansell Street, near the Tower of London, and arrested two men, both aged 25. One is a British national of Turkish origin, while the other is a British national of Algerian origin.

A 29-year-old, a British national of Pakistani origin, was also held in Peckham Street, south east London.

All the men have been detained on the suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, Scotland Yard said.

Witness accounts

Meanwhile, more witness accounts emerged throughout the day. City of London councillor John Fletcher, whose apartment backs on to Mansell Street, said he heard two loud bangs which he initially thought were fireworks.

He said he was left without answers when he tried to question a policeman about the situation. “He said ‘you’ll hear all about it in the papers tomorrow’,” he said. “I asked him if there was any danger to the residents in the flats I represent and he said there’s no danger to them at all.”

In 2008, terrorists launched deadly raids on the Indian city of Mumbai, with heavily armed gunmen attacking a number of targets, including two luxury hotels and the railway station. Some 170 people were killed.

Another man who witnessed one of the arrests at Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill said the events created “quite a scene”.

He said: “Well, I walked by and it seemed to be a couple of guys being arrested. There were three.”

He said the men looked white and were being held “up against the wall”.

“There was quite a lot of police. There was quite a scene as I approached.”