Who is Shahzad Bhatti, Pakistan-Based Gangster Behind 3 Terror Attacks in Punjab & Haryana?
Shahzad Bhatti: NIA searches 18 locations in two states as agency works to dismantle the cross-border network of a man linked to three attacks in under a year
North Desk Correspondent
Chandigarh, June 10
When the National Investigation Agency fanned out across 18 locations in nine districts of Punjab and Haryana on Tuesday, the operation had one name at its centre: Shahzad Bhatti. A Lahore-based gangster who has transformed himself into one of Pakistan’s most active handlers of cross-border terror in India, Bhatti is now the subject of three separate NIA cases — and, according to investigators, the mastermind behind a grenade attack on a Jalandhar YouTuber, a suicide bombing at a women’s police station in Sirsa, and a car bomb blast at a police post in Ambala, all within a span of ten months.
The Tuesday searches — coordinated raids that yielded digital devices, documents, and evidence of financial transactions and communication networks — mark the latest escalation in NIA’s effort to roll up what it describes as a “terror-gangster network” with its roots in Pakistan and its reach deep into North India.
From criminal to cross-border terror handler
Shahzad Bhatti is a Lahore-based gangster who has allegedly been operating out of Dubai for several years, frequently travelling between Pakistan, the UAE, and other countries in the Middle East, according to investigating agencies. Intelligence and security agencies describe him as a long-time rival of category-A gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail. Backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Bhatti has allegedly emerged as a key handler behind weapons and explosive consignments being pushed into Punjab.
More than a dozen cases have reportedly been registered against him by various agencies. According to Delhi Police Special Cell, Bhatti operates at the behest of Pakistan’s intelligence agency, giving directions from outside while handling his network directly as well as through associates, recruiting young men to carry out attacks.
A senior police official has said the ISI had been using Bhatti to orchestrate major strikes in Punjab, with Bhatti heavily involved in trafficking arms and ammunition across multiple countries, including the US, Canada, and India. Investigators believe Bhatti and several Pakistan-based associates have used social media extensively to identify and recruit operatives, targeting youngsters from various states with promises of money, influence, and recognition.
The Jalandhar grenade attack that put him on the map
Shahzad Bhatti’s name first entered public consciousness in March 2025, when a grenade was hurled at the residence of Navdeep Sandhu — who runs a YouTube channel under the name Rozer Sandhu — in Raipur Rasoolpur village in Jalandhar. Bhatti himself posted a video online claiming responsibility, saying the attack was carried out because Sandhu had posted remarks he alleged were objectionable to the Muslim community. He also warned of further action and named gangsters Zeeshan Akhtar and US-based Happy Passia as having helped him.
Punjab Police’s then-SSP of Jalandhar Rural said that Shahzad Bhatti and Sandhu had previously been acquainted — Sandhu had once helped Shahzad Bhatti earn money through online games, but when Sandhu declined to do so again, their relationship soured. The police said the case also had elements of digital extortion. NIA’s investigation subsequently traced the attack to Shahzad Bhatti, and in April 2026, the agency chargesheeted him as an absconder.
Three attacks, two states, ten months
The Jalandhar grenade attack was only the beginning. NIA has since established Shahzad Bhatti’s hand in two further explosions in Haryana — the November 2025 blast at the Women Police Station in Sirsa, and the January 2026 car bomb explosion at Baldev Nagar police station in Ambala. In the Sirsa case, the agency chargesheeted nine individuals, including Bhatti and another Pakistan-based handler, Sohail Ahmad alias Sohail Baloch. In the Ambala case, an arrested accused was found to have been in direct contact with Shahzad Bhatti.
Investigators have described Bhatti and his associates as pursuing a larger conspiracy, coordinated with Pakistan’s ISI, aimed at disrupting communal harmony in Punjab. The Bishnoi gang and the Babbar Khalsa International have both been mentioned in investigations that intersect with Shahzad Bhatti’s network.
Tuesday’s raids and what investigators are looking for
The June 9 searches across nine districts of Punjab and Haryana were aimed at mapping the full breadth of Shahzad Bhatti’s local support structure — the on-ground operatives, financial conduits, and communication channels that allow a Pakistan-based handler to direct attacks hundreds of kilometres away. NIA teams seized multiple digital devices and documents, and have sent all material for forensic and technical examination. Notices have been issued to certain individuals to join the investigation.
Indian agencies are now prioritising efforts to secure Shahzad Bhatti’s extradition, though the prospect remains complicated by the absence of a functional extradition treaty between India and Pakistan. For now, the NIA’s strategy appears to be dismantling the network from the inside — arresting and chargesheeting the domestic links while building the evidentiary case against Shahzad Bhatti himself.
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