200+ arrests, op spread out to 14 states: How Pak-based terror network was busted before Independence Day
Over 80 FIRs were filed, with significant recoveries, reinforcing India's zero-tolerance policy towards cross-border terrorism ahead of Independence Day.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday announced dismantling an ISI-backed terror network, led by Shahzad Bhatti, with the arrest of over 200 terror suspects and detention of 253 more operatives in a coordinated operation across 14 states just ahead of Independence Day.
Union home minister, Amit Shah (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT File Photo)
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Agencies and police across 14 states registered a total 80 first information reports (FIRs) and recovered improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols, live cartridges and espionage CCTVs — confirming the network’s direct cross-border links.
“Modi govt destroyed the ISI-backed terror group Shahzad Bhatti Network ahead of Independence Day and thwarted its plans for subversive attacks by arresting more than 200 operatives,” Shah said on his X account.
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“Indian security forces ripped apart the network by launching coordinated operations across different locations in 14 states, upholding a brilliant example of India’s zero-tolerance towards terrorism. Substantial recoveries, including IEDs, grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols, live cartridges, and CCTV cameras used for espionage, were made from the ISI-funded group. The network was involved in several terrorist activities,” he added.
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“Indian security forces ripped apart the network by launching coordinated operations across different locations in 14 states, upholding a brilliant example of India’s zero-tolerance towards terrorism. Substantial recoveries, including IEDs, grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols, live cartridges, and CCTV cameras used for espionage, were made from the ISI-funded group. The network was involved in several terrorist activities,” he added.
Sharing details on the operation, carried out on August 12, the ministry of home affairs said in a statement that a coordinated multi-state operation was carried out “using a real-time intelligence-sharing system with state police forces”.
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It led to 253 detentions across 14 states including Uttar Pradesh (62), Haryana (52), Delhi (51), Punjab (44), Rajasthan (15), Maharashtra (8), Uttarakhand (5), Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar (3 each), and Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala (2 each) — with fresh FIRs registered in Delhi and Karnataka, it said.
Cumulatively, the ministry said, over 80 FIRs and 200+ arrests have been recorded against Shahzad Bhatti Network under unlawful activities prevention act, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, arms act, NDPS act, and explosive substances act.
Asserting that Indian government has zero-tolerance for cross border terror, it further said that recoveries, the statement said recoveries like IEDs, grenades bearing Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols, live cartridges and espionage CCTVs confirm “the network’s direct cross-border links”.
Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) is a Pakistan-based, ISI-backed terror syndicate linked to grenades, IEDs and petrol bomb attacks and targeted killings across India. The syndicate has also been paying local conduits to recce police, defence and religious sites, and to install CCTV cameras for espionage, the ministry of home affairs said in a statement.
Wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Bhatti has emerged as a key figure in several investigations related to terror attacks, organised crimes and online radicalisation and recruitment of youngsters in India in the past couple of years.
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.
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