How Shahzad Bhatti, The Main Link To Foiled Delhi-Mumbai Attack Plot, Picked Terrorists | Exclusive

Last Updated:May 31, 2026, 13:36 IST

Bhatti and his gang utilises various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook by glamourising pictures of guns, grenades and drugs to lure youngsters, say sources

The Delhi Police said on Saturday that they busted a Pakistan-backed ISI-underworld terror module and arrested eight suspected operatives, including a Nepali national, allegedly planning attacks on vital installations, security establishments and police personnel in Delhi and other cities.

One name that has been linked to the plot is Shahzad Bhatti. Who is he? How did he pick members of the gang?

THE ARRESTS

The arrests were made in a coordinated multi-state operation that exposed a conspiracy allegedly orchestrated by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), underworld operatives and gangster-turned-handler Shahzad Bhatti, with plans to target locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab and Chandigarh, they said.

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Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Anil Shukla said at a press conference that four Pakistan-made hand grenades, two Glock pistols, 24 live cartridges, a stolen motorcycle and a stolen scooter were recovered from the accused. The accused are Vijay alias Shooter (23) from Uttar Pradesh, Nitish Paswan (23) from Jharkhand, Taoqeer Rizwan Ahmad Shaikh (27) and Sajid Mehboob Shaikh alias Arbaz Khan (27) from Maharashtra, Harvinder Singh (28), Gagandeep Singh (28) and Manjeet Singh (23) from Punjab, and Nepali national Anag Kami Lama (66).

HOW BHATTI PICKED GANG MEMBERS

According to top intelligence sources, Bhatti built association with criminals on hire. These included names such as Abid Jutt, Farukh Khokhar and Sarfaraj Dogar. Paid by the ISI, these gangsters got support with terror hardware, drugs, etc.

“Bhatti and his gang utilises various social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook by glamourising pictures of guns, grenades and drugs to lure uneducated and vulnerable youths who are heavily influenced by gun and gangster culture. To blind local intelligence networks and police databases, this syndicate recognised local criminals operating in their home states, who could be identified by community informants and local police tracking systems."

Interrogations revealed a highly structured, deliberate policy of cross-border geographical shifting. Youths recruited from Punjab were transported and tasked with executing high-risk terror strikes and targeted killings in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The aim was to push them in areas where they had no criminal records or family ties, said sources.

On the other hand, recruits from Uttar Pradesh were deployed to execute operations far from home in Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. By keeping the recruiters, transporters, and shooters completely blind to one another’s identities, the handler insulated the core leadership and they knew everything on need-to-know basis, said sources.

“The Punjab-based operatives deployed to UP or Maharashtra were never allowed to interact with the local logistics handlers who provided their shelter and food," they said.

Weapons were dropped at locations via GPS coordinates, meaning the interstate strike cells only took possession of their weapons hours before the planned attack. These criminals have multiple profiles so as to reach out to a large number of youths simultaneously and to maintain a larger social media influence, said sources.

In a recent coordinated action across India, more than one thousand such contacts of Shahzad Bhatti and his gang were subjected to police action. The youths were also being utilised for fund transfers, weapon procurement and arranging logistics.

With PTI inputs

News india How Shahzad Bhatti, The Main Link To Foiled Delhi-Mumbai Attack Plot, Picked Terrorists | Exclusive

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