The six months leading up to the Delhi Red Fort blast present a testament to this silent, unyielding war against extremism. During this period, security agencies launched a series of decisive operations targeting a spectrum of threats.
Terror strikes catch national attention, sparking days of debate and public unease. Yet, the relentless, behind-the-scenes vigilance of India’s security agencies quietly dismantling plots long before they turn into carnage rarely receives the recognition it deserves.
The six months leading up to the Delhi Red Fort blast present a testament to this silent, unyielding war against extremism. During this period, security agencies launched a series of decisive operations targeting Khalistani networks and IS-inspired radicals to narco-terror conduits and al-Qaida–linked indoctrination modules.
Inside India’s Silent War
In May, a major breakthrough emerged when an intelligence-driven operation exposed a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) module in Batla. The May 20 crackdown resulted in the arrest of six operatives linked to foreign handlers and a Pakistan-based mastermind. A day earlier, on May 19, Hyderabad intelligence units apprehended two IS-linked suspects armed with explosives. Earlier that month, on May 11, agencies in West Bengal busted a Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen–Lashkar-e-Taiba syndicate operating under Pakistani direction.
July witnessed the Gujarat ATS, alongside partner units, dismantling an al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) cell propagating the radical ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ doctrine across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. On July 11, the Army and J&K Police raided militant hideouts in Poonch, seizing IEDs, grenades, and other lethal materiel.
In August, the NIA arrested Arif Hussain alias Abu Talib, the key accused in the Vizianagaram module, at Delhi’s IGI Airport for conspiring to funnel weapons through the Nepal border. The month also saw agencies dismantle several anti-Sikh terror modules operated by the BKI–Bishnoi network in Punjab and Rajasthan.
September exposed a chilling plot when UP ATS apprehended four individuals attempting to establish a radical outfit, the Mujahideen Army, aiming to topple the elected government through violent jihad and target Hindu religious leaders. Around the same time, Delhi Police’s Special Cell dismantled a pan-India terror module, arresting five operatives in a sweeping operation.
The counterterror tempo accelerated in October. Authorities uncovered a sophisticated arms-and-opium nexus along the Punjab border, neutralised a Jaish-e-Mohammed network operating across Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra, and recovered a 2.5 kg IED in Punjab. On October 27, the Delhi Police Special Cell struck again, busting an IS-linked module, Saut-ul-Ummah, leading to the arrest of two radicalised members.