Delhi Police have widened their investigation into an alleged Pakistan-backed terror-crime network after seven arrested men disclosed that crowded markets, public places and sensitive locations across Delhi-NCR had been placed under reconnaissance for possible attacks.
Investigators said the module was being directed by Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti and his associate Ajmal Gujjar, both accused of working under the patronage of Inter-Services Intelligence. The arrested men allegedly passed photographs and videos of potential targets to handlers across the border while helping move weapons, ammunition and narcotics smuggled through Punjab into Delhi-NCR.
The seven accused have been identified as Anas Tyagi, 26, Mohit alias Yogi, 26, Deepak Agrola, 38, Arif alias Pradhan, 30, Jatan, 29, Sabir, 30, all from Ghaziabad, and Karanveer Singh, 26, from Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab. Police said the men had criminal records, including cases linked to murder, attempted murder, robbery, illegal weapons and narcotics offences.
The operation led to the recovery of five semi-automatic pistols, 41 live cartridges, seven mobile phones containing alleged chats and voice notes linked to Bhatti and Gujjar, and an SUV suspected to have been used by the syndicate. Investigators also seized details of several bank accounts believed to have been used to route proceeds from arms and narcotics trafficking.
The probe began after intelligence inputs in May indicated that Bhatti and Gujjar were attempting to build a terror network in Delhi-NCR by recruiting young men through social media. Police said recruits were promised quick money, status and a criminal lifestyle before being drawn into weapons movement, target reconnaissance and encrypted communication with handlers.
Mohit was among the first to be apprehended, with police claiming they found an illegal firearm, cartridges and a phone carrying alleged contact with cross-border handlers. His questioning led investigators to others in the network and to what police describe as a wider supply chain involving drone-dropped consignments from across the Punjab border.
The disclosures have sharpened concerns over the use of criminal networks as proxies for terror planning. Investigators believe the module combined narcotics revenue, arms trafficking, hawala channels, encrypted apps, disposable numbers and dead-drop systems to avoid detection. Such methods suggest a hybrid structure in which organised crime logistics are used to support targeted violence.
Police said some accused were asked to photograph and film crowded public spaces, transport hubs and other possible targets. These visuals were allegedly sent to handlers in Pakistan for assessment. Investigators are examining whether the reconnaissance was intended for grenade attacks, shootings or other forms of violence in the capital region.
The case also overlaps with a wider crackdown on networks linked to Bhatti and the outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan. Five more alleged operatives connected to a separate eight-member module were arrested as part of a related investigation into propaganda activity, threats to police personnel and attempts to project the outfit in parts of North India.
That wider probe has examined graffiti, posters and online material allegedly used to promote Pakistan-backed handlers. Police have also investigated claims that members linked to the network were tasked with targeting law-enforcement personnel in Delhi and neighbouring states. The killing of an assistant sub-inspector in Majitha, Amritsar, is also under scrutiny in a linked line of inquiry.
The National Investigation Agency has carried out searches at 18 locations across Punjab and Haryana in terror-gangster cases connected to Bhatti. Digital devices, documents and material related to communications and financial transactions were seized for forensic and technical examination.
