Delhi Police arrests LeT handler linked to Metro poster case

Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba handler Shabir Ahmed Lone in connection with the Metro poster case. Investigators said he was involved in reviving a terror module and had links with top LeT commanders and earlier networks

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Special Cell on Monday arrested Shabir Ahmed Lone, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist and handler of a recently busted module linked to the Metro poster case, officials said.

According to Special Cell officials, Lone was apprehended late Sunday night from the Ghazipur area by a dedicated team under the supervision of DCP Praveen Pathi.

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The arrest comes weeks after a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) complaint on February 8 at the Supreme Court Metro station triggered a high-priority investigation. Posters carrying inflammatory and anti-India messages were found at multiple locations, including Janpath, raising serious security concerns.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the DPDP Act, following which the Special Cell launched an extensive probe combining ground intelligence and technical surveillance.

Confirming the development, Additional CP Pramod Singh Kushwaha said that Lone was the key figure behind a previously dismantled module.

“If you recall, the last module we busted involved Shabir Ahmed. It included seven Bangladeshi nationals and one Indian national. He was heading that module. After it was dismantled, he returned to India to explore the possibility of creating a new module and identifying potential recruits,” Kushwaha told IANS.

Additional CP Kushwaha revealed that Lone had been arrested earlier in 2007 and again in 2015. During his 2015 arrest in Kashmir, he was allegedly found in possession of an AK-47 rifle. At that time, his associate Sajjad Gul, who was also linked to him, later fled to Pakistan and is believed to have established The Resistance Front (TRF), officials said.

Investigators further revealed that Lone had also travelled to Bangladesh, where he was reportedly working on setting up a new terror module.

Earlier, on February 23, Delhi Police had arrested eight suspects in connection with the same network. Preliminary investigations suggested that the group was operating under Lone’s direction. Officials noted that Lone had previously spent nearly a decade in jail on terror-related charges before being released on bail in 2019.

Sources added that after securing bail, Lone fled to Bangladesh and remained in contact with top LeT commanders, including Hafeez Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, both accused as masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The Delhi Police are currently interrogating the accused to determine the intended targets and the full scope of the alleged conspiracy.