Police crack metro poster plot, LeT coordinator nabbed
The Delhi Police Special Cell on Sunday night arrested Shabir Ahmed Lone (43), also known as Raja Kashmiri, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative, in
connection with putting up inflammatory posters at major Delhi metro stations in February this year.
Originally from Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, Lone had been operating as a key coordinator for LeT’s anti-India activities from Bangladesh. A Delhi court on Monday remanded him to five days of police custody for interrogation. The operation to arrest Lone was led by the Special Cell’s NDR unit.
The team had been tracking him for nearly two months after his name surfaced during the interrogation of accused arrested in connection with the metro poster case.
Acting on specific intelligence, the Special Cell team, led by DCP Praveen Kumar Tripathi, laid a trap in the Gazipur area and arrested the individual around 10:30 pm.
“This is a significant breakthrough. The accused was actively working to radicalise and recruit vulnerable youth. His arrest has prevented further expansion of the network,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah.
In February, anti-national posters glorifying slain militant Burhan Wani and carrying pro-terror slogans were pasted at metro stations, including Janpath, and at multiple locations in Delhi and Kolkata. Eight operatives were arrested, but the man pulling the strings was still at large. That man was Lone.
The posters pasted in Delhi and Kolkata were sent to Lone by Pakistan-based, LeT commander, Sumama Babar, the police said. They were pasted by Malda-based Umar Faroq and Bangladeshi national Robi ul Islam. The duo also conducted reconnaissance of high-footfall areas in India, particularly commercial and religious sites, the police added.
According to the police, Lone’s radicalisation began in his own village. Between 2004 and 2005, LeT terrorists, including Abu Huzaifa, frequently visited his locality for food and logistical support. Abu Huzaifa recruited him into LeT during that period.
In 2007, the Special Cell arrested Lone in a case involving the recovery of a heavy cache of arms and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles and grenades. He was convicted. In 2016, he was arrested again in an arms case in Parimpora, J&K, alongside one Sajjad Gul. Gul, who was later released, fled to Pakistan, and now heads The Resistance Front: a LeT offshoot behind several terror strikes, including the Pahalgam attack.
By 2025, — based LeT commander Babar tasked Lone with a new mission: recruit Bangladeshis and Indian youth from states beyond J&K for terror operations on Indian soil. Lone shifted to Gurugram, recruited Farukh, a co-accused in the metro poster case, and in March 2025, crossed into Bangladesh with his family. He set up a base in Saidpur, Bangladesh, and even married a local Bangladeshi woman to blend in with the local population, the police claim.
Delhi Police termed Lone a “hardcore and highly trained terrorist” who had established direct links with ISI-backed handlers. Investigators believe his arrest has prevented fresh recruitment of vulnerable youth into LeT’s ranks at a critical juncture.
