New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested two operatives allegedly working at the behest of Pakistan-based gangster and ISI proxy Shahzad Bhatti, uncovering a major criminal conspiracy aimed at carrying out firing incidents, grenade attacks, and targeted killings in the Delhi-NCR region.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Rajveer, 21, son of Vijay Ram and a resident of Dabra in Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh, and Vivek Banjara,19, son of Nanhe Singh, also a resident of Gwalior district. According to the police, the duo was recruited through social media platforms and was actively involved in executing instructions received from their handlers.
The arrests were made following a significant intelligence-based operation conducted by the Special Cell. The operation was led by Inspector Sunil Rajain under the supervision of ACP Vivek Kumar Tyagi. The team successfully dismantled a criminal module linked to Bhatti, thereby averting potential terror-style incidents in the national capital and surrounding areas.
During the operation, a pistol and six live rounds were recovered from the main accused, Rajveer, who was arrested on April 18, from the Sarai Kale Khan area in Delhi. Additionally, two mobile phones containing incriminating videos and voice notes were seized from the accused.
According to officials, the Special Cell had earlier received intelligence inputs indicating that Bhatti, along with other ISI-linked operatives and India-based accomplices, was planning a series of violent attacks in Delhi-NCR and nearby regions. Acting on this information, a case was registered under FIR No. 81/26 on March 31, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an investigation was initiated.
The breakthrough came when Banjara was traced to Dabra in Gwalior and arrested on April 16. He was subsequently sent to five days of police custody. His interrogation, combined with human intelligence inputs, led to the arrest of Rajveer two days later. Police revealed that Rajveer was preparing to carry out a firing attack on a prominent hotel in the Delhi-NCR region as per instructions fromBhatti at the time of his arrest.
Further investigation into the case exposed the deeper conspiracy. Rajveer was reportedly recruited via social media by an individual known as ‘Rana Bhai,’ an associate of Bhatti. He later introduced Banjara to the network. In March, Bhatti instructed Rajveer to send an associate to Ahmedabad to collect weapons. Banjara was sent for this purpose, but the delivery did not materialise. Bhatti had arranged Rs 5,000 for his stay in Ahmedabad.
Subsequently, on April 9, both accused travelled to Amritsar on Bhatti’s instructions and collected a pistol, 15–20 live rounds, and Rs 20,000 from a designated location. The weapon was intended for use in an attack on a club in Zirakpur, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, which had reportedly received extortion threats from Bhatti. On April 11, Rajveer attempted to open fire at the club but failed due to a mechanical issue with the pistol. Banjara recorded a video of the attempted attack to share with their handler.
After the failed attempt, Rajveer concealed the weapon at an undisclosed location and shared its coordinates with Bhatti. He later travelled to Faridkot, where he received another pistol along with six live rounds from a contact arranged by Bhatti. He then returned to Delhi to carry out another planned attack before being apprehended.
Delhi Police confirmed that further investigation is ongoing to identify additional links in the network and prevent any future threats.
–IANS
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