The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday declared the Pakistan-backed Shahzad Bhatti network (SBN) a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
He reportedly operates from a third country and keeps changing his location, according to intelligence officials. (File Photo/Facebook)
“The group is involved in smuggling of arms, explosives and narcotics across borders, apart from inciting youths and petty criminals into terrorism. Targeting India’s democratic structure and the fabric of communal harmony, the syndicate also published hateful digital content,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
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A gazette notification issued in this regard by MHA said, “Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) is an organisation whose objective is to involve gullible youth and local criminals to smuggle arms, explosives, and narcotics from across the border, and through terrorist activities, pose a serious threat to the democratic system, communal harmony, and internal security of the country”.
Several criminal cases have been registered against the cadres of SBN across multiple jurisdictions for their involvement in unlawful and terrorist activities, invoking the following sections of various Acts including terrorism, explosive substances act, arms act, information technology act, official secrets act and immigration and foreigners act, it said.
The network is run by gangster-turned-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti, who is backed by Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He reportedly operates from a third country and keeps changing his location, according to intelligence officials. Last month, Union home minister Amit Shah said security agencies dismantled the network, arresting over 200 suspects across 14 states.
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Elaborating on the network’s activities, the ministry said in the notification that it is involved in radicalising gullible youth by offering various allurements, motivating them for anti-national activities, and mobilising resources for anti-national acts in collusion with other banned organisations and designated entities.
The network “is promoting terrorism through violent activities that disrupt public order and by using various digital communication platforms to disseminate provocative messages, posing a serious challenge to the integrity of the nation,” it said.
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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