Alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Shabir Ahmad Lone, who is said to be in charge of the Lashkar-e-Taiba unit recently busted in the Metro Booster case, has been arrested by the Special Cell team of Delhi Police.
Lone’s name had emerged as the in-charge of a Lashkar-e-Taiba unit comprising “ultra-extremist activists” in a multi-state anti-terrorism operation, which was busted by Delhi Police last February. Lone, originally from Jammu and Kashmir, was said to be residing in Bangladesh.
A written complaint was lodged on February 8 by the CISF duty-in-charge at Delhi High Court Metro station regarding the pro-Pakistan and pro-terrorism posters pasted at Janpath Metro station, police said. During verification, similar posters were found at multiple locations across the national capital.
What was the situation?
Police said the posters contained images glorifying slain JeM terrorist Burhan Wani and slogans such as “India stop genocide, free Kashmir”. Some Urdu phrases have been translated as “Hum Pakistani Hain, Pakistan Hamara Hai” and “Kashmiri Ek Guta Divas”, they said.
The FIR was registered at the Supreme Court Metro Police Station under Sections 152, 196 and 197 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act and Section 3 of the DPDP Act. The police said that due to the nature of the content, the case was transferred to the Special Cell.
At that time, Delhi Police arrested eight activists, most of them Bangladeshi nationals who had reportedly entered India illegally under fake identities.
On February 15, a raid was conducted at Magirpara, Hatiyara Guti in Kolkata, leading to the arrest of Umar Farooq, 31, a resident of Malda, West Bengal, and Rubiul Islam, 31, a Bangladeshi national from Thakurgaon district. Their interrogation led to the creation of a larger network in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu. On February 21, six Bangladeshi nationals were arrested from Bogura, namely Muhammad Mizanur Rahman, 32, Muhammad Safiyyat Hossain, 34, Muhammad Zahidul Islam, 40, Muhammad Liton, 40, Muhammad Azal, 27, and Umar Farooq, 32.
Police said initial interrogation revealed that Umar Farooq was in contact with Shabir Ahmed Lone in March 2025 and was allegedly indoctrinated to lead Lashkar-e-Taiba operations in India.
“Shabir’s plan was to use Bangladeshi nationals who assumed Indian identities to carry out terror attacks. In December 2025, Omar was directed to conduct reconnaissance of important installations and send videos for evaluation,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said at the time.
