ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces have dismantled a sophisticated network of Indian intelligence operatives and local facilitators working under the aegis of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the country’s eastern Punjab province. The network was actively plotting terrorist attacks on civilian and strategic targets, authorities said.
The bust, executed under the codename Operation Yalghar, has led to the arrest of six suspected RAW facilitators from the district of Toba Tek Singh, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials said.
The CTD reported the seizure of a cache of sensitive materials, including maps of strategic sites, detonators, and high-grade explosives. This operation was part of a broader effort.
In a related development, CTD Bahawalpur arrested additional suspects allegedly connected to the same network with links to India’s RAW. According to CTD officials, these individuals received financial support channelled through Dubai and shipments of IEDs directly from India’s Border Security Force (BSF).
The implications are sobering. “The suspects were actively plotting attacks on a mosque and the local railway station,” a senior CTD Bahawalpur official revealed. “Had they succeeded, the consequences would have been catastrophic.”
Perhaps most alarming is the intelligence haul accompanying these arrests. Forensic examination of digital communications intercepted by the CTD has unearthed audio recordings of individuals identified as Major Rawindra Rathor and Inspector Singh—allegedly officers within RAW—giving direct operational instructions to the apprehended men.
In the recordings, the two handlers are heard directing the execution of attacks on “sensitive installations” across Pakistan.
This development marks a rare moment in which Pakistani authorities have not only named but also provided what they claim is direct evidence of Indian intelligence operatives orchestrating subversive activities on Pakistani soil.
In a statement issued late Tuesday evening, the CTD vowed an unwavering commitment to safeguarding national security. “We will not compromise on the sovereignty of Pakistan,” the agency said. “Anyone involved in aiding foreign attempts to destabilize our country will be brought to justice.”
While this latest crackdown reinforces Islamabad’s long-standing claims of external interference—particularly by New Delhi—in its internal security affairs, it also underscores the increasingly shadowy nature of regional tensions. Proxy networks, clandestine facilitators, and hybrid warfare are fast becoming the new norm in South Asia’s security theatre.
This episode is likely to inflame already tense relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours, and will almost certainly feature in diplomatic backchannels, if not escalate into open recriminations on global forums.
