The story so far : On September 16, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) designated the Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) as a terrorist group under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
The MHA said in a notification that the outfit, through its terrorist activities, poses a “serious threat to the democratic system, communal harmony, and internal security of the country”.
Most were poorly educated, economically vulnerable individuals recruited via social media for money, Gulf relocation, or resolving personal issues. Multiple handlers assigned recruits tasks including reconnaissance, attacks, funding and logistics. The network’s Delhi-NCR targets included security personnel, political offices, businesses and activists.
Detailing the reach of the network, Dehi Police said that since October 2025, the police registered 15 FIRs and arrested 69 accused, two-thirds from Punjab and U.P . The police identified 108 raid targets, initiated proceedings against 35 and recovered grenades, pistols, cartridges, petrol bombs, CCTV cameras and SIM cards. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in a post on X on September 16, “Pursuing PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s vision of zero tolerance against terror, the MHA declares the Shahzad Bhatti Network as a terrorist organisation under the UAPA.
Monetary incentives generally outweighed ideology, police said. MHA said that 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. It added that “several criminal cases” have been duly registered against the cadres of SBN across multiple jurisdictions for their involvement in unlawful and terrorist activities. It further said that SBN 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. “SBN 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…the Central Government believes that ‘Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN)’ is involved in terrorism and has participated in various acts of terrorism in India,” the notification said.
