Union Home Ministry notifies Shahzad Bhatti Network as banned organisation under UAPA, 46th entry on terror list; Amit Shah says designation reflects PM Modi’s “zero tolerance” doctrine against terrorism; network accused of arms, explosives and narcotics smuggling across the border and radicalising Kashmiri youth and petty criminals
Masarat Shah
New Delhi, Sep 16 (BuzzBytes): The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday designated the Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, adding it as the 46th entry to the First Schedule of banned outfits after a gazette notification invoking Section 35(1)(A) of the law.
According to the notification, the SBN is engaged in smuggling arms, explosives and narcotics across the border while radicalising gullible youth and local criminals into carrying out terrorist activities. The government identified the outfit as one whose objective is to involve such elements in cross-border smuggling and use them for terror-related tasks, besides targeting India’s democratic framework and communal harmony through hateful digital content disseminated across various platforms.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, announcing the decision, said the action against the SBN was taken in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “zero tolerance” against terrorism. He said the network’s activities included cross-border smuggling of arms, explosives and narcotics besides efforts to radicalise youth and petty criminals into terrorism.
Shah said on social media that the network had been attempting to draw youth towards terrorist activities through digital platforms alongside its cross-border unlawful activities. The Home Ministry’s action detailed allegations that the network mobilised resources for terrorist activities through various inducements and had allegedly cooperated with other banned organisations and designated entities.
Persons allegedly associated with the SBN face cases under several laws, including the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Arms Act, the Explosives Act, the Information Technology Act and the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act. These cases have been cited by the government as part of the basis for action against the network.
Once an organisation is designated a terrorist organisation under the UAPA, it is placed on the list of banned outfits and activities linked to it can be proceeded against under the relevant provisions of law. With the gazette notification, the SBN’s name has now been added to the First Schedule of the Act, which the government said clarifies the legal scope for action against the network under existing anti-terror law.
The network is learnt to be run from Pakistan, with its principal figure, Shahzad Bhatti, a native of Lahore currently based in Dubai, regarded as a key operator of the ISI’s narco-terror infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir, according to details available with agencies tracking the outfit. Other Pakistan-based handlers associated with the network, identified as Abid Jatt, Ajmal Gujjar, Hunain Rana and Hasan Gujjar, are reported to use social media platforms to target and recruit youth from India for the network’s activities.
Beyond its cross-border smuggling operations, the network has also been linked by agencies to grenade and IED attacks, petrol bomb attacks and targeted killings in northern India, including the 2022 killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala, according to details available with security agencies. Officials tracking the outfit said its recruiters used social media to draw in Indian youth, including petty criminals, for logistical and operational tasks linked to its cross-border activities.
Shah’s office said the decision reaffirms the government’s continuing policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and the networks that sustain it through smuggling, radicalisation and digital propaganda. Officials said the ban would allow enforcement agencies to proceed against individuals and assets linked to the SBN under the anti-terror law’s provisions—in accordance with law—(BuzzBytes)
