New Delhi, February 23 – The busting of a Lashkar-e-Tayiba-linked module that was planning attacks in Delhi and surrounding cities has revealed several details about how the ISI plans to conduct future operations in the country.
The module, which was broken up following the arrest of eight people from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, was being managed from multiple locations. The module was being operated in a way that would not reveal its Pakistani connection.
Investigating officers say that, like the Faridabad module, this one also had links to Jammu and Kashmir.
Shabbir Ahmed Lone, a resident of Ganderbal in Kashmir, was sent to Bangladesh by the ISI to manage the module. The ISI had been cultivating Lone since 2019, the year he was released from prison. Lone was arrested in 2007 after AK-47s and grenades were found on him. He was released from prison in 2019, and was immediately dispatched to Bangladesh.
In the Faridabad module, it was found that an Imam was managing the members of the group. He was receiving instructions from a Jaish-e-Mohammad handler based in Afghanistan, the investigation found.
An official from the Intelligence Bureau said that the module had conducted several dry runs. They were constantly testing the waters and challenging Indian security agencies. They primarily focused on propaganda instead of actual attacks.
In the first phase of their operation, they focused on putting up posters in various parts of the country. The posters were about the Kashmir issue, and these were found in Delhi and West Bengal. On February 10, several posters related to the Kashmir issue were seen at Metro stations and other locations in Kolkata.
The investigation has found that this module was planning a large-scale attack in Delhi and surrounding areas. However, further investigation has revealed that the focus of the module was also largely on Kolkata. Ahead of the elections, the module wanted to target temples and other places such as bus stands and Metro stations.
The ISI has been planning a large-scale attack in West Bengal to disrupt the elections. In addition, the Pakistani intelligence agency has also set up multiple modules along the India-Bangladesh border.
With the Jamaat-e-Islami winning heavily in constituencies bordering West Bengal, the ISI believes that conducting operations in these locations would be relatively easy.
Groups such as the Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami (HuJI) and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have been involved in this operation, an official said.
These groups have already started sending in large numbers of illegal immigrants to these border areas and have housed them in madrasas. The intention is to push them into India around a month before the West Bengal elections and then effect demographic changes, which would eventually lead to communal clashes.
Under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, who was the caretaker of the interim government, the ISI made Bangladesh its playground. After "Operation Sindoor," the ISI needed another launchpad to carry out strikes against India. Officials explain that they found this solution in Bangladesh.
The busting of the latest module clearly shows that the ISI wants to conduct operations from Bangladesh, as it does not want the trail of the attacks to reach Islamabad, an official said.
Counter-terrorism experts explain that the focus will increasingly be on operations from Bangladesh. The border areas are likely to be a major cause of concern, as the ISI will continue to use the Jamaat's influence in these locations to keep the border with India on edge.
Experts say that operations led by the ISI will move more towards the border areas of Bangladesh, and all future attacks in India will be coordinated from these areas.