Prateek Tanmay
Intelligence inputs have flagged a sharp escalation in Pakistan’s ISI-driven terror strategy in Punjab, with petrol bombs emerging as a key new weapon in planned attacks timed for Independence Day 2026 and the weeks leading up to it.
Described as low-grade, easy to fabricate and yet highly effective for spreading terror, these devices form part of an expanded arsenal that also includes remote-controlled RDX-based prefabricated IEDs, alongside traditional RDX tiffin bombs, hand grenades, automatic weapons and small firearms.
In the early hours of the night of July 25-26, two miscreants hurled petrol bombs at the BJP district office in Sangrur. One bottle struck the outer wall near the kitchen area, causing burn marks and a low-intensity fire, while a second fell outside. Punjab Police officials say the attack was carried out on the instructions of Pakistan-based gangster Shehzad Bhatti, acting on the orders of ISI.
The assessments, drawn from recently busted terror modules, tech-based espionage cases and cross-border recoveries of weapons and narcotics, point to a recalibrated multi-pronged approach intensified after Operation Sindoor in May 2025.
The aim remains to destabilise law and order and communal harmony in the state. Pro-Khalistan terrorist nodes, mainly Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), as well as transnational organised criminal networks operating from Germany, France, Portugal, the UK, Canada, the US, Malaysia and elsewhere, are expected to receive large consignments of militant hardware for these operations. ISI is also preparing direct strikes through its own operatives disguised under pseudo pro-Khalistani entities to ensure deniability.
Senior Punjab Police officials say targets have widened beyond police, CAPF and defence establishments, serving and retired Punjab Police personnel linked to counter-terror work, and right-wing party offices and leaders. Plans now include random attacks on police personnel, railway and other critical infrastructure in Punjab, and locations with high public footfall.
In 2026 alone, till July 27, Punjab Police has busted 10 terror modules through intelligence-led operations, arresting 137 persons. Recoveries include 7 automatic rifles, 76 revolvers/pistols, 12 RDX-based prefabricated IEDs, 3.756 kg of RDX, 9 detonators, 49 hand grenades, 1 RPG with launcher and 7 walkie-talkie sets. Six cases of tech-based espionage involving solar-powered CCTV cameras relaying live feeds to Pakistan have also been neutralised, while 183 drones have been recovered.
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These successes mirror a series of recent foiled plots. On July 26, Counter Intelligence Jalandhar and Jalandhar Rural Police busted an ISI-sponsored BKI module, arresting key operative Satbir Singh of Padiana village, Adampur, and seizing a 1.3 kg-IED packed with high explosives, shrapnel and ball bearings meant for a high-impact strike. An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act; investigations into foreign handlers and local networks continue.
Earlier in July, police dismantled another network linked to a suspected IED plot on the Ferozepur-Jammu train, arresting 17 people with a UK-based handler under scrutiny; recoveries included an IED and a pistol. Multiple other 2026 operations across the state have yielded additional remote-controlled RDX devices, grenades, pistols, an RPG, explosives and overseas handler links, underscoring the persistent drone-enabled push from across the border.
“Security agencies remain on high alert. Punjab Police has reiterated its commitment to dismantling terror networks, curbing organised crime and safeguarding peace across the state in the run-up to August 15. We will defeat the nefarious designs of Pakistan’s ISI to foment trouble in Punjab,” said a senior police officer.
Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Shehzad Bhatti, widely described by security agencies as an ISI proxy, has been actively directing plans to promote instability in Punjab through a hybrid network of local recruits, cross-border smuggling and low-intensity attacks. Operating remotely via social media and encrypted channels, Bhatti recruits unemployed youth with monetary incentives, tasks them with reconnaissance of police stations, public places and political targets, and facilitates the supply of arms, ammunition and explosives smuggled by drones across the Punjab border.
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His network has already been linked by the NIA and state police to multiple incidents in the state, including the March 2025 grenade attack near influencer Roger Sandhu’s residence in Jalandhar and the November 2025 grenade assault on a Gurdaspur police station, as well as broader efforts to radicalise and arm operatives under fronts such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan.
Intelligence assessments indicate Bhatti’s ongoing strategy centres on sustaining pressure through targeted killings of security personnel, petrol-bomb and IED strikes on police establishments and political figures, and the use of narcotics proceeds to fund further disruption, all while maintaining deniability for his Pakistani handlers. Recent operations have uncovered modules under his direction that used Punjab as a transit hub for weapons destined for attacks elsewhere, while also planning local actions to demoralise law enforcement and stoke communal tensions.
Agencies continue to dismantle these cells through coordinated raids and arrests across Punjab and neighbouring states, underscoring the persistent threat posed by his cost-effective, gangster-terror model aimed at undermining peace in the border state.
