Shabir Ahmad Lone, the alleged main handler of the Bangladesh-based terror module busted by the Delhi Police, is suspected to have used illegal routes to travel between Bangladesh and several Indian cities, including Delhi, to “recruit and indoctrinate youth”, police sources said. He is alleged to have visited Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh last year for the same purpose, they said.These details emerged during questioning of the eight alleged members of the module — including six Bangladeshi nationals — who were arrested in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, police sources said. A few people from Shaheen Bagh have also been questioned as part of the probe, sources added.The module was busted two days after security agencies issued an alert about a possible terrorist attack near the Red Fort by terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Police claimed it is backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).This is the second time that Lone’s name has surfaced in connection with terror activity. He hails from Kangan village in Srinagar.Lone was arrested by the Special Cell on July 27, 2007, for allegedly being a member of the LeT. In 2012, he was sentenced to six years in prison by a Delhi court after he was found guilty of sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act for being in possession of a pistol. The court had acquitted him under sections 121, 121-A/122 of the IPC and sections 17, 18 and 20 of the anti-terror UAPA Act.At the time, the Special Cell also claimed to have recovered 280 US dollars from Lone, following which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a PMLA case against him in 2009.In 2019, he was granted bail by a court in the PMLA case. It ordered that Lone would not directly or indirectly make any threat, inducement or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case, and not leave the country without the court’s permission.Story continues below this adBut, police said, he fled the country and escaped to Bangladesh via an illegal route.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. These claims were cited as part of the police’s broader investigations into cross-border militant networks.Police also alleged that Lone had undergone militant training, including basic (Daura-e-Aam) and advanced (Daura-e-Khaas) courses at a training facility in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POC).Police said Lone is now among fugitives most wanted by Indian security agencies. As per police records, he also goes by the aliases ‘Raja’ and ‘Kashmiri’.Story continues below this adAccording to the Delhi Police, they got on to the trail of the eight men allegedly connected to the terror module, in coordination with their counterparts in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, after posters demanding “Free Kashmir” appeared on the pillars of the Kashmere Gate Metro station weeks before the AI Summit on February 7.Among the arrested men, police said one Umar Faruk from West Bengal had allegedly come in contact with Lone in March 2025 and was “indoctrinated” by him. Lone had allegedly been in India then, they said.Police 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.Also Read | Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah admitted to Safdarjung Hospital; Tihar Jail says he is ‘normal and stable’In December 2025, police claimed, Lone directed Umar to conduct a reconnaissance of important places in India and send videos.Story continues below this adAfter this, police claimed, Lone directed Umar to visit him in Bangladesh for further directions and tasked him with recruiting more Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally in India.