Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Bangladesh-based terror module recently dismantled by Delhi Police was allegedly run by Shabir Ahmed Lone, an operative investigators say maintained direct links with senior Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders.Lone was also in touch with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed and operations chief Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi.Delhi Police on Monday said it had busted a terror module linked to Pakistan-based LeT handlers operating from Bangladesh, arresting eight suspects and averting what officials described as a “major untoward incident”.
Who is Shabir Ahmed Lone
Investigators describe Lone as a long-time Lashkar-e-Taiba associate who has been on security agencies’ radar for nearly two decades. He’s a resident of Ganderbal in Kashmir, currently based in Bangladesh.He was arrested in 2007 with an AK-47 rifle and grenades and was allegedly part of a planned fidayeen attack targeting a senior political leader.He spent about a decade in jail on terrorism charges before being released on bail in 2019. Officials say that after his release he fled to Bangladesh, where he re-established contact with Lashkar-e-Taiba leadership and rebuilt his network.“Initial investigations have revealed that he reconnected with the LeT leadership and re-established his organisation to carry out terrorist activities,” Special Cell Additional CP Pramod Kumar Kushwaha said.Delhi Police sources say Lone was operating the India-based module on behalf of LeT and remained in direct touch with its top commanders. His alleged contact with Hafiz Saeed places him in the upper tier of the group’s external operations network, investigators believe.According to investigators, Lone coordinated activities from Bangladesh through encrypted messaging platforms and intermediaries. He was allegedly tasked with recruiting and radicalising undocumented Bangladeshi migrants in India, arranging fake identity documents such as Aadhaar cards, and setting up logistics bases, including a rented safe house near Kolkata.Police also linked the network to anti-India posters that appeared in Delhi and Kolkata, which were allegedly printed in Kolkata after a PDF was sent from Bangladesh by Lone.
Arrests and suspected attack plans
The eight arrested suspects, picked up from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, were allegedly working in the garment sector while concealing their identities with forged documents.Security agencies are probing whether the group was planning attacks on a temple or other crowded locations in Delhi. Alerts had earlier warned of a possible improvised explosive device (IED) strike near the Red Fort and other high-footfall areas.Authorities are also examining whether the network had any link to the November 2025 car blast near the Red Fort that killed 12 people. Lone, believed to be in Bangladesh, remains a key figure in Lashkar-e-Taiba’s cross-border recruitment and operational network targeting India.
