India’s security agencies have foiled the country’s first ricin-based bioterror plot, uncovering a chilling plan to carry out mass poisoning. Arrests in Gujarat and UP reveal ISI–ISKP-linked networks pushing ‘kitchen-made’ bio-warfare across India.
New Delhi: Even as India reels under the blast near Red Fort in the nation’s capital, a quiet intelligence alert has opened a disturbing window into what agencies say was a planned biological attack on Indian soil. According to a senior intelligence source who spoke to Asianet Newsable English, the terrorists were allegedly preparing to unleash a chemical-biological attack using ricin — one of the world’s deadliest bio-toxins — across multiple locations in India.
The source summed up the urgency in one line: the threat “is being averted,” but agencies remain on high alert.
The Arrest That Sparked a Nationwide Alarm
The revelation came days after the Gujarat anti-terrorist squad (ATS) arrested a doctor — Ahmed Mohiyuddin Saiyed from Hyderabad in Telangana, along with firearms and nearly 4 kg of castor-bean mash, which is used to extract ricin at Adalaj toll plaza on Ahmedabad–Mehsana Road in Gandhinagar.
Ricin, a naturally occurring protein, has long been on the radar of global counter-terrorism agencies. It is lethal even in tiny doses and can kill if inhaled, ingested, or injected. Its appeal for terror networks lies in its simplicity of production, its stealth, and the difficulty of tracing its origins.
Following the doctor’s arrest, ATS teams tracked his communications and subsequently apprehended two more individuals — Azad Suleman Sheikh and Mohammad Saleem Khan, both residents of Uttar Pradesh — from Banaskantha in Gujarat.
This is the first ricin-related terror plot ever discovered in India, marking a new and deeply unsettling chapter in domestic security challenges.
‘Mass Poisoning’—Expert Warns of a New Form of War
To understand the scale and intention behind such an operation, Asianet Newsable English reached out to security affairs expert Major General Sudhakar Jee (Retd), who did not mince words about the gravity of the threat.
“The potential biological warfare could involve mass poisoning,” he warned.
He advised the government and security agencies to ‘Prepare and prevent; Repair and Repent’.
According to him, the battlefield is no longer traditional. The threat now lurks not in distant borders but in the deeply personal spaces of everyday life.
“The country should prepare against a multi-domain threat inside the hinterland of India likely to be launched inside every kitchen in every house of India by means of a ‘Bio-War’. Stay aware, stay calm, don’t panic.”
A New Modus Operandi: Killing Without Explosives
Major General Sudhakar Jee paints a chilling picture of how terror outfits are reimagining attacks for maximum impact and minimal detection.
“Lethal Mass massacre techniques by using the toxin ricin made with kitchen tools will be the new normal undertaken by Pakistan Terrorist networks led by ISI- ISKP/ISIS.”
This shift, he said, is being openly pushed in extremist propaganda.
He explained that online ISKP-ISIS literature “explicitly advocates killing a large number of people without explosives.” The operatives, according to him, are being guided by Pakistan-based handlers to manufacture ricin and “check its effects on an animal before wreaking mass destruction of human lives by ‘mass poisoning with the bio terrorism’.”
Such attempts at weaponising everyday materials underscore why ricin is often considered the ultimate low-cost, high-impact terror weapon.
A Strategic Warning Inspired by Kissinger
In framing India’s required response, the retired officer quoted former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger:
“The conventional forces lose, if they don’t win. The Guerrilla wins if it doesn’t lose.”
This guerrilla logic, he argued, applies squarely to biological warfare — a domain where attacks are hard to attribute, harder to pre-empt, and nearly impossible to counter once executed.
He urged Indian agencies to adapt accordingly:
India must “prepare against the Bio-Warfare and prevent it’s occurrence inside the country, against the influential personalities in Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, Media, Domain experts in Specilised domains of nuclear, space, cyber, AI, Robotics, Block-chains, energy storage, technological and economic Centers of excellence among others.”
‘Find, Fix, Track, Target’ — Taking the Battle Beyond Borders
The retired officer did not merely highlight the threat; he outlined a strategic response India should adopt.
He advised intelligence agencies to:
“Collect, collate, synthesise and develop accurate intelligence to ‘find, fix, track, target, engage (destroy) and capture evidence of destruction in adversaries territory (May be in Pakistan or Turkey or elsewhere) with pinpointed accuracy and precision in future war.’”
In other words, India must be prepared to neutralise threats at their source — even if those sources lie beyond its borders.
How Terrorists Choose Their Targets
The terrorists could target institutionalised ’Langars’ in religious places, public sources of water supply among others, Major General Sudhakar Jee said.
On their target is Centers of excellence of technology , economy, infrastructure development, connectivity, financial capital, stock exchange.
These are places that serve thousands daily, making them devastatingly efficient vectors for biological agents.
Why the Next War May Not Look Like the Last
The retired Major General cautioned strongly against assuming that India could respond to such an attack with traditional warfare.
He warned that India must avoid an immediate conventional war because “this time the DGMO of the adversaries may not come on knees to stop the conflict owing to it’s ability in unleashing operations wrapped in ‘deniability’ in ‘Bio-Warfare’ in our homeland with no or minimum trail to trace to it’s origin.’”
Understanding Ricin: The Silent Killer
Ricin is a naturally occurring but extremely toxic protein, capable of killing a person even in tiny amounts. Whether inhaled, injected, or ingested, its effects can be fatal, which is why it is widely regarded as a potent and viable biological weapon.
What makes ricin particularly dangerous is how easily it can be sourced. The toxin can be extracted from castor pulp — the leftover waste from the castor oil industry, commonly known as castor meal. With basic tools, this by-product can be turned into a lethal agent.
Its versatility adds to the threat. Ricin can be converted into a fine powder, an aerosol, a pellet, or even dissolved in water, making it adaptable for various methods of attack and incredibly difficult to detect until it’s too late.