Eight Lashkar-e-Taiba Operatives Arrested in India; Seven Identified as Bangladeshis

Indian police have arrested eight members of the Pakistan-based extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) from multiple locations across the country, stating that seven of them are Bangladeshi nationals.

According to Indian media reports citing police sources, the group’s leader, Shabbir Ahmed Lone, was also arrested. Authorities claim he had previously been hiding in Bangladesh.

The arrests were carried out over a two-month-long operation spanning areas near the Bangladesh border, as well as Kolkata, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu.

A report by The Times of India identified the seven Bangladeshi suspects as Mizanur Rahman (32), Zahidul Islam (40), Mohammad Liton (40), Mohammad Ujjal (27), and Umar Farooq (32) from Bogura; Md. Shafayet Hossain (34) from Jhalokathi; and Rabiul Islam (27) from Thakurgaon.

Police recovered 10 mobile phones, 25 debit and credit cards, five point-of-sale (POS) machines, Bangladeshi passports, and several posters from the suspects.

Shabbir Ahmed Lone, a resident of Srinagar in Kashmir, had previously been arrested by Delhi Police in 2007 with an AK-47 rifle and grenades. He remained in Tihar Jail until 2018 before being released on bail.

According to reports by NDTV and The Times of India, Lone later fled to Bangladesh and re-entered India through the Nepal border. He was reportedly arrested near the Bangladesh border and had been operating a Lashkar-e-Taiba cell from a hideout near Dhaka.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States and has been accused of planning attacks in India and Western countries, including the deadly three-day Mumbai attacks in November 2008.

NDTV also reported that a preliminary investigation by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) indicated possible links between Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan’s military intelligence agency ISI in connection with the April 22, 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir.

Following that attack, the United States designated The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Regarding the latest arrests, NDTV reported that on March 29, Delhi Police’s Special Cell, in coordination with central agencies, apprehended Lone near the Ghazipur drain in Delhi. Officials said they had dismantled a Bangladeshi module linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba in a multi-state counterterrorism operation. All eight suspects, including the alleged mastermind Lone, have been taken into custody.

Police claim the group was planning a major terrorist attack in India, which has now been thwarted.

The investigation began on February 8 after suspicious posters were discovered at Delhi’s Janpath Metro Station. The posters contained pro-Pakistan slogans, provocative messages related to Kashmir, and images of militant Burhan Wani.

According to NDTV, the posters included Urdu phrases such as “We are Pakistani, Pakistan is ours” and references to “Kashmir Solidarity Day.” Similar posters were later found in other parts of Delhi, prompting authorities to hand over the case to the Special Cell.

Using surveillance, CCTV footage, human intelligence, and digital analysis, investigators tracked down the network. On February 15, two key suspects, Umar Farooq and Rabiul Islam, were arrested in Kolkata.

Further raids on February 21 in Tiruppur led to the arrest of six additional suspects. Police said the Bangladeshi nationals had entered India illegally and were using forged Indian identity documents to conceal their identities.

During interrogation, Umar Farooq reportedly told investigators that he first came into contact with Lone in March 2025. Lone allegedly radicalized him and tasked him with expanding Lashkar-e-Taiba’s activities in India.

Farooq was instructed to conduct reconnaissance of sensitive locations, record videos, recruit additional members, and arrange weapons through local contacts.

Investigators also found that on the nights of February 6 and 7, Farooq and an associate put up pro-Pakistan posters at around 10 locations in Delhi. They recorded videos of their actions and sent them to Lone, who encouraged further such activities.

According to intelligence sources cited by NDTV, Lone maintained direct contact with senior Lashkar-e-Taiba handlers based in Pakistan, including Abu Huzaifa, Sumama Babar, and Abdul Rehman. He was reportedly acting under their direction to rebuild a terrorist network in India.

Lone was also said to be in contact with Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen commander Abu Talha and UAPA-listed militant Asif Dar.

Authorities believe the network aimed to infiltrate Bangladeshi nationals into India, recruit them for extremist activities, and establish sleeper cells for future large-scale attacks.

A Delhi court has remanded Lone to five days of police custody. In its remand application, Delhi Police described him as a “radical and highly educated trained terrorist” with links to handlers associated with Pakistan’s ISI.