700 arrested, Shahzad Bhatti’s terror network seeks comeback with religious pitch

Indian security agencies have arrested around 700 individuals allegedly linked to proscribed terrorist Shahzad Bhatti, disrupting planned attacks, drug trafficking and counterfeit currency operations. Intelligence officials warn the network is attempting to rebuild through online radicalisation, religious messaging and fresh recruitment strategies

New Delhi: Indian security agencies arrested 700 individuals linked to proscribed terrorist Shahzad Bhatti, stalling major subversion plans including surveillance installations at crowded locations, targeted attacks, and cross-border drug smuggling, officials have said.

Dismantling the Bhatti network was among the most challenging operations undertaken by Indian investigative agencies in recent times. Despite breaking the primary operational grid, intelligence authorities warned that the terror module is actively attempting a comeback by changing its recruitment strategy.

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So far, around 700 people have been arrested on suspicion of working for Bhatti. The operation carried out by security agencies thwarted several plans hatched by the Bhatti module. These included installing CCTV cameras at sensitive and crowded locations, carrying out targeted killings, and trafficking in drugs and counterfeit currency.

An official said that security agencies had largely dismantled the network, but the cat-and-mouse game with its remaining operatives was continuing. “To date, over 100 takedown requests of Instagram profiles linked to this network have been sent to Meta. As the profiles are being taken down, over 50 new ones appear. This is, in fact, a big challenge for the agencies,” the official said.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that in this second push that is being made by the Bhatti network, a lot of emphasis is being given on defending religious honour. When the network was first set up, the recruitment was not religious-centric. Youth were recruited from across religions, and money played a very big role. A youth could be picked up and asked to undertake a task for as little as Rs 5,000. These youth were also shown pictures of Bhatti and his associates posing in front of expensive cars and luxury homes.

The handlers sold a dream to the youth, and this worked massively. In reality, it was just bait, and the Bhatti network never had any plans to fulfil its promises regarding a fancy lifestyle that it made to the youth at the time of recruitment, the official said.

Intelligence agencies tracking Bhatti said that after the first crackdown that led to hundreds of arrests, Bhatti had been shifted to Pakistan. This decision was taken after the Indian government declared him a proscribed terrorist under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However, he has travelled to Dubai and Portugal in recent months and remains actively involved in overseeing the module and devising fresh strategies for operations in India.

Another official said Bhatti was now seeking to combine religion, money and lifestyle incentives in his next recruitment drive, with a greater emphasis on religious identity. “This is a deliberate ploy. By invoking religious sentiments, the amount of money offered to recruits would be relatively small. The idea is to exploit the religious sentiments of young people during the recruitment process,” the official said.

Those youth who would be recruited for paltry amounts, which would be as low as Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000, are being promised better lives in Dubai, Pakistan or Nepal.

Investigations show that the Bhatti network has prepared fake passports for several youths so that they could escape from India after a big hit-job is carried out, the official added. “While the religious push would be much higher this time, the overall strategy remains the same — pay less and recruit more. Bhatti does not want to build just a network in India, but wants to create an army of youths who would fight for a religious cause,” officials say.

The module’s operational brief is no longer limited to installing CCTV cameras, trafficking in drugs and circulating counterfeit currency. The network is seeking to expand its reach and intensify its activities. Police have linked the Bhatti network to attacks targeting police personnel in Punjab, the blast outside the Border Security Force (BSF) headquarters in Jalandhar, and a petrol bomb attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Jharkhand.

The operations that the network is planning are on similar lines, but the scale would be much larger. Platforms such as Instagram would continue to be used for radicalisation and putting out hate messages against India. Planning and execution of high-intensity attacks would be done extensively on encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram, an official said.