Who is Shabbir Ahmed Lone? Here’s how Delhi Police nabbed LeT commander in ‘ca ...
Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested Shabbir Ahmed Lone, a commander of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, near the Bangladesh border after a two-month-long operation.Investigators said Lone had been running a Lashkar module from a hideout near Dhaka and had been under close watch by intelligence agencies, according to media reports. The operation was overseen by Satish Golcha, Commissioner of the Delhi Police.
A special team led by Additional Commissioner Pramod Kushwaha, along with ACP Lalit Negi and Inspector Sunil Rajain, tracked Lone after finding his alleged role in recruiting youths for suspected terror activities in cities like Delhi, Kolkata, and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, according to a Times of India report.
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Police described the chase as a “cat-and-mouse” operation that finally ended with his arrest near the Bangladesh border.
Who is Shabbir Ahmed Lone?
Shabbir Ahmed Lone is a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba commander who has been on the radar of Indian security agencies for years.
He was earlier arrested by Delhi Police in 2007 on terror-related charges. After getting bail in 2019, he fled to Bangladesh, where he is believed to have set up a terror network, making him a major concern for security agencies, including Delhi’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
Background and origin
Lone is originally from Kangan in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. He is known to use several aliases, including Raju and Zafar Saddique. He is described as highly radicalised and trained, having received structured arms training – including Daura-e-Aam and Daura-e-Khas – in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, according to a report by Kashmir Life.
According to investigators, Lone began as an over-ground worker for a terrorist group in the late 1990s before joining Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the early 2000s. He later infiltrated India through the Bangladesh border and remained actively involved in terror-related activities, including involvement in major attack conspiracies, the report mentioned.
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After facing legal action in India earlier, he reportedly fled to Bangladesh, where he has been operating and coordinating recruitment as well as expanding terror networks.
Officials said Lone is not the only wanted terror operative with links to Delhi. Agencies are also actively searching for Sheikh Sajjad Gul, who was arrested at Nizamuddin railway station in 2002 and later convicted in 2003, spending over a decade in Tihar Jail.
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