In a post on X, home minister Amit Shah said, “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. 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.”
Shahzad Bhatti, a Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist handler, has allegedly been involved in several killings and operates using social media. According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), his organised crime and terror syndicate was involved in the November 2025 grenade attack on the Sirsa women police station in Haryana.
Bhatti and another Pakistan national, Sohail Baloch, had recruited and radicalised the arrested accused through social media platforms and encrypted communication channels, as per NIA. “SBN has also been paying local conduits to recce police, defence and religious sites and to install CCTV cameras for espionage. To counter SBN-linked disruptions planned around Independence Day, a coordinated multi-state operation was carried out on August 12 using a real-time intelligence-sharing system with state police forces,” it said in a statement.
The operation led to 253 detentions across 14 states – 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, J&K and Kerala (2 each) – with fresh FIRs registered in Delhi and Karnataka.
