Shabir Ahmad Lone, an alleged militant trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one of its primary recruiters in India, was nabbed by the Delhi Police Special Cell, said officers.
“Lone was arrested on Sunday night near the Ghazipur border. He operated primarily from Bangladesh, and ran a Lashkar recruitment cell from a hideout,” a senior officer said.
This comes almost a month after police busted a Bangladesh-based terror module, of which Lone was the alleged main handler, and arrested eight men. They were arrested for allegedly putting up ‘Free Kashmir’ posters last month in Delhi.
Police claimed Lone used illegal routes to travel between Bangladesh and several Indian cities, including Delhi, to “recruit and indoctrinate youngsters”, police sources said. He is alleged to have visited Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh last year for the same purpose, they said.
Police said at the time of his arrest, Lone was in Delhi to recce high-footfall spots for a “possible terror attack” and to recruit new men. He was found with currency notes of Nepal, India and Bangladesh.
Police said Lone was previously arrested by the Special Cell in 2007 for allegedly plotting an attack on a high-profile politician, and sophisticated machine guns like AK- 47 were allegedly found in his possession.
Police further alleged that at the time of his arrest in 2007, Lone had purported links with senior figures associated with the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, including Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
“He hails from Kashmir… he was trained in Daura-e-Aam (basic terror camps) and Daura-e-Khas (specialised terror camps ) in Pakistan. He was arrested In 2007 and was released in 2018 from Tihar, after which he fled to Bangladesh. There, he came in contact with the LeT and began recruiting people for terror activities,” an officer claimed.
Finding Lone
The chase for Lone intensified after the Delhi Police on February 23 nabbed eight men — six of them Bangladeshi nationals — for putting up ‘Free Kashmir’ posters.
The posters were found near the Supreme Court Metro station on February 7, after which CISF personnel alerted the Delhi police.
Police said during their probe, they found that two men had pasted these posters before fleeing to Kolkata. Multiple raids were conducted in Kolkata during which the men, Umar Farook and Rabiul-Islam, a Bangladeshi national, were arrested.
“On February 7, they pasted pro-Pakistan and pro-terror posters at 10 different locations in Delhi and left for Kolkata via train the next day. They also made videos of the posters being put up and sent them to Lone. Lone contacted the two men… and directed them to paste posters in Kolkata as well,” Pramod Singh Kushwah, Additional Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, had said earlier.
Rabiul had previously been arrested in 2007 in India, a police officer added.
During questioning, police said the duo claimed they did it as part of a ‘dry run’, as instructed by Lone, after which they were to get formal training for carrying out terror activities in cities across North India.
Their arrest led the police to a flat in Kolkata, where a recruitment operation, designed by Lone, targeting Bangladeshi nationals living in India was underway.
“Six men working in garment factories of Tamil Nadu were recruited by Umar through social media. All were arrested following raids in Tamil Nadu,” a police officer had said.
Police had earlier claimed Lone appointed Umar to spearhead LeT operations in India. His plan, they claimed, was to use Bangladeshi nationals, who assumed Indian identities to stay in India, to carry out terror strikes.
In December 2025, police had claimed, Lone directed Umar to conduct a reconnaissance of important places in India and send videos. After this, police claimed, Lone directed Umar to visit him in Bangladesh for further directions.
“Lone had another accomplice, a Bangladeshi national named Saidul Islam, who is presently in a foreign country. Saidul facilitated Lone’s illegal entry into Bangladesh and arranged his hideout. Saidul was also responsible for providing details of the Tamil Nadu LeT group to Lone and Umar,” the Additional CP said.
Police claimed Lone was in touch with two of his Pakistani handlers, whose code names have been accessed by them. They also claimed he married a Bangladeshi woman to fit in at his hideout in the country.
LeT recruiter Shabir Lone has been arrested by Delhi Police near Ghazipur, nearly a month after a Bangladesh-based terror module linked to him was busted. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha) 
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