NEW DELHI, Sept 16: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday designated the Shahzad Bhatti Network as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Home Ministry in a post on X said, “The group is involved in smuggling of arms, explosives and narcotics across borders, apart from inciting youths and petty criminals into terrorism. Targeting India’s democratic structure and the fabric of communal harmony, the syndicate also published hateful digital content.”
A gazette notification issued in this regard by MHA said, “Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) is an organisation whose objective is to involve gullible youth and local criminals to smuggle arms, explosives, and narcotics from across the border, and through terrorist activities, pose a serious threat to the democratic system, communal harmony, and internal security of the country.”
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had earlier located about 30 young men in Mumbai, all under the age of 20, who had come in contact with Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti through Instagram. Bhatti allegedly used a “gaming mission” model to identify, test, and gradually recruit these youngsters, assigning them tasks that appeared harmless at first before attempting to escalate them into more sensitive assignments, officials have said.
The youths were initially given simple, task-based assignments, similar to levels in an online game, designed to test whether they would follow instructions without asking questions. The first set of tasks involved asking them to click photographs or record short videos of public places, government buildings, and police stations, which were framed deliberately as routine activity to avoid raising suspicion.
Investigation further revealed that none of the 30 Mumbai youths actually carried out these instructions. In one instance, Bhatti allegedly asked a youth to photograph a police station in Haryana. The youth never visited the location or completed the task, and officials believe no further instructions were sent to him once he ignored the assignment.
While most of the identified youths refused to act, officials have flagged one case where the tasks are believed to have progressed well beyond simple reconnaissance. Krishna Mishra, 20, one of two men recently arrested by the Uttar Pradesh ATS, was allegedly instructed by Bhatti’s network to film a sensitive installation.
Mishra and his co-accused, Daniyal Ashraf, were arrested for allegedly maintaining links with the Pakistan-based handlers and carrying out their work. Officials said Mishra photographed Narpoli Police Station in Bhiwandi and recorded an 18-second video of a nearby bridge, both of which were allegedly shared with handlers in Pakistan. Digital evidence recovered from the accused’s phones reportedly included encrypted chats, video calls, reconnaissance footage, and records of financial transactions.
In July this year, the Delhi Police Special Cell had busted two terror modules operating under the Shahzad Bhatti network in the national capital. The special cell arrested seven accused from Delhi and Punjab in connection with the case.
The accused were allegedly operating through two distinct networks, one linked to terrorist activities and the other to an arms trafficking module. The officers recovered an array of pistols and petrol bombs from the possession of the accused, the police had said. Preliminary investigations had revealed that the network was operating in an organised manner and may have links extending across multiple states.
The first module included three individuals: Salman, Danish alias Chand Miyan, who were apprehended and had been tasked with throwing petrol bombs. Three petrol bombs and a stolen motorcycle were also recovered from their possession. The module was being handled by one Hunain Rana, an associate of Shahzad Bhatti, the police had said.
The second module consisted of four individuals Tayyab, a resident of Shaheen Bagh; his brother-in-law, Ali Fazal, who has a prior criminal record involving theft, the Arms Act and organised crime; third Zubair; and a fourth man, Malkit, from Amritsar. These men have been involved in trafficking sophisticated weapons sourced from across the border, bringing them to India to distribute for illicit activities.
Moreover, three weapons and encrypted chat records were recovered from this module. “Their intended targets included police establishments and areas with heavy footfall,” the police had said.
Once known as a Pakistani social media influencer, Shahzad Bhatti has been involved in terror activities and arms smuggling. Officials believe he was involved in radicalisation of youth, trafficking of weapons and conspiracies to create unrest in the nation.
Bhatti, along with his aide Ajmal Gujjar, is involved in smuggling and distribution of arms, ammunition and narcotic substances trafficked from Pakistan through Punjab and supplied to Delhi-NCR, the police suspect.
(Manas Dasgupta)