253 held across 14 states as security forces bust ISI-backed terror network
Security agencies conducted a coordinated crackdown across 14 states, detaining 253 individuals linked to a Pakistan-based, ISI-backed terror network ahead of Independence Day.
Uttar Pradesh (62), Haryana (52), Delhi (51) and Punjab (44) accounted for the bulk of detentions, with smaller numbers across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Gujarat, Bihar, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala.
The network was linked to grenade, IED and petrol-bomb attacks as well as targeted killings in different parts of India, with local operatives allegedly conducting reconnaissance and installing surveillance equipment near police, defence and religious sites.
More than 80 FIRs were registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Arms Act, the NDPS Act and the Explosive Substances Act; recoveries included IEDs, grenades bearing ordnance-factory markings, pistols, live ammunition and covert surveillance cameras.
The operation relied on real-time intelligence-sharing between central and state security agencies.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA)
The UAPA is India's principal anti-terrorism law, originally enacted in 1967 to allow "reasonable restrictions" on rights under Article 19 in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India. It was transformed into a comprehensive counter-terrorism statute through the 2004 amendment, which inserted Chapter IV/VI defining and penalising "terrorist acts," and further strengthened through amendments in 2008, 2013 and 2019.
Key Details
- Section 15 defines a "terrorist act" as any act intended to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India, or to strike terror among people, using arms, explosives or similarly dangerous means.
- Section 16 prescribes punishment for a terrorist act — death or life imprisonment if it results in death; a minimum of five years' imprisonment up to life imprisonment otherwise.
- The 2019 amendment empowered the central government to designate individuals (not just organisations) as terrorists, expanding the Act's scope beyond banning outfits to naming persons directly.
- Bail under UAPA is deliberately stringent (Section 43D(5)), reflecting the Act's design to prioritise state security in the pre-trial stage — a provision often tested for its balance against Article 21 rights.
The FIRs registered in this operation invoke UAPA provisions precisely because the network's activities — attacks intended to strike terror and threaten security — meet the Section 15 definition of a terrorist act, distinct from ordinary criminal offences.
National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008 and Centre-State Coordination in Counter-Terrorism
The NIA was established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, enacted in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, as India's central counter-terrorism investigating agency. Unlike state police, whose jurisdiction under the Constitution is confined to "Police" and "Public Order" (State List, Entry 1 and 2), the NIA can investigate terrorism-related "Scheduled Offences" anywhere in India without needing prior state consent for scheduled offences, following the 2019 amendment.
Key Details
- The NIA Act's Schedule lists offences under laws including the UAPA, the Explosive Substances Act, the Atomic Energy Act, and provisions relating to hijacking and attacks on nuclear facilities; the 2019 amendment added cyber-terrorism and human trafficking, among others.
- NIA officers have the powers, duties and privileges of police officers across all of India, overriding the ordinarily state-specific jurisdiction of police forces (a rare central law operating directly in a State List domain, justified via the treaty-implementation power under Article 253 and national security concerns).
- Multi-state counter-terror operations of this kind typically use coordination mechanisms such as the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) under the Intelligence Bureau, which enables real-time intelligence sharing between central agencies and state police Special Branches/Anti-Terror Squads.
The scale of this operation — 253 detentions synchronised across 14 states in a single coordinated action — reflects exactly the kind of centre-state intelligence fusion that the NIA Act and mechanisms like MAC were designed to enable after 26/11 exposed gaps in inter-state coordination.
Cross-Border Terrorism and State-Sponsored Proxy Networks
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has, per India's longstanding official position, been linked to sponsoring militant and terror networks operating against India, a recurring theme in India's internal security discourse (from Kashmir-focused terror groups to sleeper modules in the hinterland). Such networks typically rely on local recruitment, remote handling via encrypted communication, and use of legal-sounding fronts to move funds and material — patterns UPSC frequently tests under "linkages of organised crime with terrorism" and "role of external state and non-state actors."
Key Details
- India's response architecture spans intelligence agencies (IB, R&AW), investigative agencies (NIA), and state police, coordinated through bodies like the MAC and, at the policy level, the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Terror financing is separately targeted through the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 and India's Financial Intelligence Unit, alongside UAPA's provisions on raising funds for terrorist acts (Section 17).
- India is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), whose recommendations shape domestic terror-financing and anti-money-laundering law.
The alleged use of local operatives for reconnaissance and surveillance-equipment installation near sensitive sites is characteristic of the "hybrid" or proxy terrorism model India has repeatedly attributed to Pakistan-based handlers, reinforcing why such networks are treated as a distinct internal security challenge from ordinary crime.
- Detentions: 253 across 14 states
- Top states by detentions: Uttar Pradesh (62), Haryana (52), Delhi (51), Punjab (44)
- FIRs registered: more than 80, under UAPA, BNS, Arms Act, NDPS Act, Explosive Substances Act
- NIA established: 2008, in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
- UAPA transformed into anti-terror law: via the 2004 amendment (Chapter IV); individual-designation power added by the 2019 amendment
- UAPA Section 16 punishment: death/life imprisonment if death results; minimum 5 years otherwise