The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday declared the Pakistan-backed Shahzad Bhatti network (SBN) a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
“The group is involved in smuggling of arms, explosives and narcotics across borders, apart from inciting youths and petty criminals into terrorism. The network is run by gangster-turned-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti , who is backed by Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Last month, Union home minister Amit Shah said security agencies dismantled the network, arresting over 200 suspects across 14 states .
A gazette notification issued in this regard by MHA said, “ Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) is an organisation whose objective is to involve gullible youth and local criminals to smuggle arms, explosives, and narcotics from across the border, and through terrorist activities, pose a serious threat to the democratic system, communal harmony, and internal security of the country”. Several criminal cases have been registered against the cadres of SBN across multiple jurisdictions for their involvement in unlawful and terrorist activities, invoking the following sections of various Acts including terrorism, explosive substances act, arms act, information technology act, official secrets act and immigration and foreigners act, it said. He reportedly operates from a third country and keeps changing his location, according to intelligence officials. Elaborating on the network’s activities, the ministry said in the notification that it is involved in radicalising gullible youth by offering various allurements, motivating them for anti-national activities, and mobilising resources for anti-national acts in collusion with other banned organisations and designated entities. The network “is promoting terrorism through violent activities that disrupt public order and by using various digital communication platforms to disseminate provocative messages, posing a serious challenge to the integrity of the nation,” it said.
Targeting India’s democratic structure and the fabric of communal harmony, the syndicate also published hateful digital content,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
