A suspected cross-border network came under the scanner after two men were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district for allegedly passing sensitive information about religious sites and key locations to handlers in Pakistan. The accused – Azeem Rana from Dhaulana and Azad Rajput from Meerut – were picked up by local police, who also seized two mobile phones from them. Initial findings suggest the duo had access to and shared photographs, videos and precise location details of multiple sites. Rana is said to run a dry fruits stall at a Delhi mall, while Rajput worked as a contractor in Gurugram.
According to Superintendent of Police Kunwar Gyananjay Singh, the two had been in touch since December 2025 with an ISI-linked network connected to Pakistan-based gangster Shahzad Bhatti through social media platforms. During questioning, they admitted to sending visuals and location inputs of a metro station area in west Delhi, a nearby temple, and surrounding residential pockets.
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Investigators said similar information related to a temple in Greater Noida’s Bisrakh area was also shared. The duo remained in regular contact with their handler via messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, and had conducted reconnaissance of a prominent temple in Delhi, officials added.
Police believe the information was being relayed on instructions from across the border, pointing to a possible larger conspiracy targeting religious places. Agencies suspect the inputs could have been meant to aid planning of a major attack.
The arrests followed specific inputs from central intelligence agencies. Subsequently, multiple agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), joined the probe and began detailed questioning of the accused.
Officials said efforts are underway to identify other members of the network and map the full extent of the operation, while local contacts of the duo are also being verified.
