LeT handler Shabir Ahmed Lone arrested in Delhi, ran Bangladesh-based module

The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) handler Shabir Ahmed Lone from the Ghazipur area of the national capital after tracking his movements following the busting of a terror module earlier this year.

Officials described Lone as a “hardcore and highly trained terrorist” who allegedly maintained links with handlers working on behalf of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and coordinated activities of a cross-border network aimed at reviving terror operations in India.

According to police, Lone, also known by the aliases Raja and Kashmiri, is a resident of Kangan in Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir and was the main handler of a Bangladesh-based terror module exposed during coordinated raids on February 22.

Acting on intelligence that he had entered Delhi, Special Cell teams kept him under surveillance and arrested him on the night of March 29 in Ghazipur. During the operation, police recovered foreign currencies and other incriminating material , including about 2,300 Bangladeshi taka, 1,400 units of Nepalese currency, 5,000 Pakistani rupees and around 3,000 Indian rupees. A Nepalese SIM card was also seized, indicating possible cross-border communication.

Investigators said Lone had fled to Bangladesh after earlier arrests and rebuilt a network there to revive terror activities in India. From Bangladesh, he allegedly recruited and radicalised illegal Bangladeshi immigrants , using them for logistics, propaganda and reconnaissance missions.

The module allegedly conducted a “test run” by pasting pro-Pakistan and anti-India posters at prominent locations in Delhi and Kolkata and also carried out reconnaissance of crowded public places and religious sites, recording videos that were sent to handlers abroad.

Police records show Lone was first arrested by the Special Cell in 2007 with an AK-47 rifle and hand grenades and was again arrested in 2015 in Srinagar. Investigators said he had undergone Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khaas terror training at an LeT camp in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and had alleged links with senior Lashkar commanders including Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

The Special Cell had earlier busted the network on February 22 and arrested eight operatives, including seven Bangladeshi nationals , during raids in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Police said the suspects had entered India illegally, obtained forged identity documents and were tasked with recruiting members and arranging logistics such as safe houses and weapons. Officials said Lone is being interrogated to identify associates, possible targets and suspected hawala funding and cross-border financial links connected to the recovered currencies. Further investigation is underway.