New Delhi: Security agencies detained 253 people across 14 states on 12 August in a coordinated operation against the Shahzad Bhatti Network, a Pakistan-based terror syndicate the government says is backed by the ISI. The sweep was timed to disrupt attacks the group was planning around Independence Day, and drew on a real-time intelligence-sharing arrangement with state police forces.
Counting earlier action against the network, more than 80 FIRs and over 200 arrests have now been recorded against it. The cases have been registered under the UAPA, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Arms Act, the NDPS Act and the Explosive Substances Act. Fresh FIRs from the 12 August operation were registered in Delhi and Karnataka.
Weapons and surveillance equipment seized
Recoveries from the network include improvised explosive devices, grenades carrying Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings, pistols, live cartridges and CCTV cameras used for spying. Agencies have pointed to the ordnance factory markings as confirmation of the group’s direct cross-border links.
Where the detentions were made
Uttar Pradesh accounted for the largest number of detentions at 62, followed by Haryana with 52, Delhi with 51 and Punjab with 44. Rajasthan recorded 15 and Maharashtra eight, with five in Uttarakhand. Karnataka, Gujarat and Bihar reported three each, and Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala two each.
What Amit Shah said
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who also holds the cooperation portfolio, wrote on X that the Modi government had destroyed the network ahead of Independence Day and thwarted its plans for attacks by arresting more than 200 operatives. He said Indian security forces had “ripped apart the network” through coordinated operations across the 14 states, calling it an example of the country’s zero-tolerance approach to terrorism.
Shah listed the seizures made from what he described as an ISI-funded group, and said the network had been involved in several terrorist activities.
Modi govt destroyed the ISI-backed terror group Shahzad Bhatti Network ahead of Independence Day and thwarted its plans for subversive attacks by arresting more than 200 operatives.
Indian security forces ripped apart the network by launching coordinated operations across…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) August 17, 2026
The charges against the network
The Shahzad Bhatti Network has been linked to grenade, IED and petrol bomb attacks and to targeted killings in different parts of India. It has also been paying local contacts to carry out reconnaissance of police stations, defence installations and religious sites, and to fit CCTV cameras for spying.
Security agencies said action against the network would continue, with further coordinated operations planned to dismantle its structure nationwide.