Fresh investigations have revealed major details about Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed terror plot after the interrogation of arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Shabir Ahmed Lone. According to officials, an accused arrested earlier had conducted a recce of commercial locations and religious sites in Delhi. These sites included Kalkaji Temple, Lotus Temple and Chhatarpur Temple. After completing the recce, a video was sent to Pakistan, revealing Lone, as per the investigators. The accused had also recorded footage of Connaught Place. This comes a day after Lone was arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police from the Ghazipur area. After his arrest, he was produced before a court, which sent him to five days of police custody.
ISI wanted terror group modelled on TRF
Lone told interrogators that ISI was planning to create a terror outfit modelled on The Resistance Front (TRF). Notably, TRF was involved in carrying out the Pahalgam terror attack last year. Investigators said Lone remained in regular touch with handlers of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, identified as Asif Dar and Sumama Babar.
Asif Dar, originally from Sopore and currently operating from Pakistan, coordinated these activities through an encrypted Telegram handle @YD_17. Officials said Lone frequently changed his encrypted chat identities but later began using a specific mobile number to communicate with handlers and associates. This mobile number eventually helped investigators trace the network.
LeT operatives provided logistical support
Reports indicate that LeT operatives Abu Huzefa, Abu Bakar and Faisal had travelled to Lone's area where they received logistical support. Abu Huzefa was the one who inducted Lone into the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Lone underwent a 21-day basic training programme known as Daura-e-Aam, where he learnt to use small arms and grenades. He later completed Daura-e-Khas, a three-month advanced course that trained him in AK-series rifles, rocket launchers, IEDs and light machine guns. Lone was also sent to an LeT camp in Muzaffarabad for Daura-e-Sufa. The primary aim of this programme was ideological indoctrination and recruitment of new members.
ISI sent lone to Bangladesh to build operational cell
Investigators revealed that ISI had allegedly sent Lone to Bangladesh to establish an operational cell targeting India. In March 2025, Lone crossed the India-Bangladesh border with his family and settled in Saidpur. There, he reportedly set up a launching base for terror activities. To conceal his identity and avoid suspicion, Lone is said to have married a local Bangladeshi woman. He later began recruiting Bangladeshi and Indian youths from several states and Union Territories outside Jammu and Kashmir to execute attacks inside India.
Who is Shabbir Ahmed Lone?
Lone had a long history of involvement in terror activities and had been previously arrested in 2007. At that time, an AK-47 rifle and a hand grenade were recovered from his possession. He was again arrested in 2015 in Srinagar under the jurisdiction of Parimpora Police Station.
According to a senior Delhi police officier, Lone had established links with handlers operating on behalf of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. "Lone, also known by aliases Raja and Kashmiri, is a resident of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and was allegedly operating as the handler of a recently busted module involved in pasting anti-national posters across multiple locations in Delhi and Kolkata," the officer added.
