In a significant breakthrough, the Special Cell of Delhi Police arrested a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, Shabbir Ahmad Lone, from the Ghazipur area on Monday. Shabbir, originally from Jammu and Kashmir, was reportedly operating a terror module from Bangladesh. Investigators revealed that Shabbir had recently visited Kolkata, where he established a hideout and conducted reconnaissance of high-footfall areas for potential strikes.

Sources state that Shabbir was the brain behind the anti-national posters found in sensitive zones across Delhi and Kolkata. He entered India via the Nepal border under instructions from his ISI handlers in Pakistan. During the arrest, police recovered a mix of currencies from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Shabbir has a history of terror activities; he was first arrested in 2007 with an AK-47 but fled to Bangladesh after jumping bail in 2019. His arrest is expected to lead to the dismantling of several sleeper cells active in West Bengal and the National Capital Region.