IN A major counter-terror operation spanning three States, the Delhi Police has dismantled a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) module comprising eight operatives, including seven Bangladeshi nationals who had illegally entered India and procured forged identity documents, an official said on Sunday. The arrests followed coordinated raids in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, after investigators traced the group’s involvement in putting up pro-Pakistan and pro-terror posters, featuring photographs of terrorist Burhan Wani, at multiple locations in Delhi.

 

The module was being handled from Bangladesh by Shabir Ahmad Lone alias Raja alias Kashmiri, a trained LeT terrorist from Jammu and Kashmir who was previously arrested by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell in 2007 in a case involving the recovery of arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle and grenades, Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said. He said Lone, who hails from Kangan in Srinagar, had fled to Bangladesh after his release from Tihar Jail in 2018 and was working to revive the LeT’s terror network in India by activating sleeper cells of Bangladeshi operatives residing illegally in the country.“The investigation began on February 8, after a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) shift in-charge submitted a written complaint at the Supreme Court Metro police station regarding pro-Pakistan and pro-terror posters pasted at the Janpath metro station. Similar posters were later found at other locations in Delhi,” Kushwah said.

 

The posters featured photographs glorifying slain Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist Wani and carried messages, such as “India stop genocide” and “Free Kashmir”, along with Urdu slogans translating to “Hum Pakistani Hain, Pakistan Hamara Hai” and “Kashmiri Ek Jut-ta Divas”. An FIR was registered and further investigation launched by the Special Cell. The initial groundwork was carried out by a team of the Delhi Police’s Metro unit and the probe was later transferred to the Special Cell. Kushwah said the Special Cell, already tracking activities of LeT operatives with Bangladeshi connections in the wake of recent developments in Bangladesh, intensified human intelligence and technical surveillance. Based on analysis, a team traced two suspects to Majherpara at Hatiara Gote in Kolkata.