Delhi Police busts terror module, arrests 8, including 7 foreigners

Delhi Police dismantled a Lashkar-e-Taiba module, arresting eight operatives, mostly Bangladeshi nationals, involved in pro-terror activities.

New Delhi: The Special Cell of the Delhi Police said it has dismantled a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module comprising “highly radicalised operatives” in a multistate counter-terror operation, and arrested eight operatives—most of them Bangladeshi nationals who have reportedly entered India illegally on forged identities and were operating under a Pakistan-backed handler, officers aware of the developments said.

According to the crime branch officials, the accused posed as an army officer and duped over 13 youths by promising them jobs in the armed forces. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

Additional commissioner of police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said coordinated raids were conducted at Kolkata in West Bengal, and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu. Seven are Bangladeshi nationals, and one is an Indian national from West Bengal.

“The module was being directed by Shabir Ahmad Lone alias Raja alias Kashmiri, a trained LeT militant from Jammu and Kashmir, who is currently based in Bangladesh,” Kushwah said.

The arrests were made in a probe initiated on a complaint lodged on February 8 by a CISF shift in-charge at the Supreme Court Metro station, alleging pro-Pakistan and pro-terror posters being pasted at the Janpath Metro Station. During verification, similar posters were found at multiple locations across Delhi, police said.

The posters, police said, contained photographs glorifying slain alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Burhan Wani in Urdu and also some pertaining to Kashmir. A case was registered under sections 152, 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 3 of the DPDP Act—pertaining to threat to sovereignty and national security.

Police said that regardless of the poster case, they were on alert due to recent political developments in Bangladesh. “Application of human and technical intelligence yielded actionable inputs regarding the movement of suspects in Delhi and Gurugram. The trail was developed and their location was traced to Kolkata,” Kushwah said.

On February 15, a raid was conducted at Majherpara, Hatiara Gote in Kolkata, leading to the arrest of Umar Faruk, 31, a resident of Malda, West Bengal, and Robiul Islam, 31, a Bangladeshi national from Thakurgaon district. Questioning them led to a larger network in Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu. On February 21, six Bangladeshi nationals from Bogura, Mohammed Mizanur Rehman, 32, Mohammed Sefayat Hossain, 34, Mohammed Zahidul Islam, 40, Mohammed Liton, 40, Mohammed Uzzal, 27, and Umar Faruk, 32, were arrested.

Police said that preliminary interrogation revealed that Umar Faruk came in contact with Shabir Ahmad Lone in March 2025 and was allegedly indoctrinated to spearhead LeT operations in India. “Shabir’s plan was to use Bangladeshi nationals who had assumed Indian identities to carry out terror strikes. In December 2025, Umar was directed to conduct reconnaissance of important installations and send videos for assessment,” Kushwah said.

According to investigators, on February 6, Umar and Robiul took a flight from Kolkata to Delhi via Patna. On the night of February 7, they allegedly pasted pro-terror posters at 10 locations across Delhi, recorded videos of the act, and returned to Kolkata by train the next day. The videos were sent to Lone, who congratulated them and instructed them to replicate the act in Kolkata, police said.

“Shabir Ahmad Lone further directed Umar to arrange weapons through local contacts. He had rented accommodation in Kolkata to be used as a hideout and operational base,” Kushwah said.

Police said Lone, a resident of Kangan in Srinagar, was previously arrested by the Special Cell in 2007 in a case involving the recovery of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle and grenades. He was lodged in Tihar Jail until 2018 and allegedly had direct links with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and his deputy Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

“He is a trained militant who underwent Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khaas training in Muzaffarabad. After his release, he fled to Bangladesh to revive the LeT network in India and reactivate sleeper cells of Bangladeshi operatives,” Kushwah said.

Another Bangladeshi national, Saidul Islam, currently based in an unidentified country, allegedly facilitated Lone’s illegal entry and stay in Bangladesh and helped connect him with the Tamil Nadu module.

Besides the posters, police recovered 10 mobile phones containing incriminating material, 25 credit and debit cards, five point-of-sale machines, and Bangladeshi passports and identity documents. “All financial transactions, digital evidence, and possible sleeper cell linkages are under investigation. The module was in the process of consolidating its base and expanding recruitment,” Kushwah said.

The arrests sparked a political tête-à-tête in Tamil Nadu.

While former BJP state president K Annamalai said that the law and order of Tamil Nadu “is in shambles”, a spokesperson for the ruling DMK alleged “incompetence of the Union BJP government.“