Overview
- The Ministry of Home Affairs formally added the Pakistan‑based Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) to the UAPA First Schedule by gazette notification on Wednesday, making SBN the 46th listed terrorist organisation.
- The designation follows a coordinated multi‑state operation that detained about 253 people, prompted more than 80 FIRs and produced arrests and seizures reported by central and state agencies.
- Authorities say probes recovered explosives, grenades marked with Pakistan Ordnance Factory insignia, firearms, IED components and surveillance gear during the crackdown.
- The government alleges SBN ran online recruitment and encrypted communications to radicalise vulnerable youths and petty criminals and that Shahzad Bhatti and several key associates operate from outside India.
- The UAPA listing lets investigators pursue tougher charges and asset and financing probes while prosecutions continue, and it formalises a push that state police, notably Uttar Pradesh, had urged the Centre to take.