If it is as the police say it is, this would rank as one of the most thrilling pre-emptive terror arrests. The central crime branch of Bangalore police last week arrested 18 young men—among them a journalist, a junior research fellow at DRDO and doctors—and claims, in its press release dated September 1, that they were out to “execute target killings of some prominent political leaders (MPs/MLAs), leading journalists and important leaders of Hindu organisations in the state” on instruction from their Saudi Arabia-based handler. These men, the police said, were linked to the LeT and the HuJI. Dayananda, the joint commissioner heading the investigations, was moved to hyperbole: “Timely police action has averted a major catastrophe.”