New Delhi: An investigation into the espionage-terror module uncovered by security agencies has led Delhi Police to identify Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operatives Manu Agwan and Maninder Billa as chief handlers of these modules, sources have said.Agwan, currently shuttling between Greece, Portugal and Germany, assumed operational charge of a chunk of BKI modules after the arrest of Happy Passia in the United States last year. He operates in collaboration with a group formed by Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda Sandhu in Pakistan. Billa was last spotted in Malaysia and coordinates with Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) factions.Agwan, sources said, fled to Thailand in 2022 and subsequently shifted to a BKI base in Portugal. He has since been orchestrating attacks in Punjab and is now also focused on Delhi.Delhi Police’s investigation has also exposed a shift in tactical recruitment by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Unlike previous modules that typically preyed on the marginalised or the uneducated, this latest crackdown reveals a calculated move to co-opt “bright, young minds” into the BKI-ISI fold. The operation has laid bare a web of radicalisation where MBA graduates and tech-literate professionals worked alongside labourers, drivers and farmers to facilitate arms trafficking, narco-smuggling and high-tech surveillance.At the pinnacle of the module was Atul Rathee, a resident of northwest Delhi’s Rohini whose profile defies the traditional insurgent stereotype. Rathee, an MBA from New Zealand, returned to India to eventually lead a double life, said additional commissioner of police (special cell) Pramod Kushwaha. He was assisted by Rohit, another Rohini resident and MBA graduate, who accompanied Rathee on high-risk missions to Punjab to receive caches of foreign-made weaponry.This “corporate” layer of the cell was supported by Manpreet Singh, a BCA graduate who served as the digital backbone of the network. Leveraging his technical background, Manpreet acted as the primary liaison for overseas handlers, managing the distribution of ammunition and procuring SIM cards registered under fraudulent identities.The investigation highlighted a diverse hierarchy of roles, proving the network’s ability to embed itself across different social strata. Ajay, a graduate, and Salwinder Singh, a DJ operator, provided further operational support, while the cell even utilised the mundane trades of wallpaper pasters Anmol and Sahil to install CCTV cameras at nine strategic locations for remote monitoring.The second unit focused heavily on the intersection of narco-terrorism and military espionage, cops said. “Gurjeet Singh, a farmer, and Boota Singh, a seasoned smuggler, utilised familial cross-border ties to conduct reconnaissance of Indian Army cantonments. They worked in tandem with Rimpledeep Singh, a driver, and Harpreet Singh, alias Happy, who managed a sprawling portfolio of tasks. Happy’s responsibilities ranged from laundering drug proceeds to planning the installation of solar-powered surveillance equipment to track the real-time movement of BSF and paramilitary forces,” Kushwaha added.Perhaps most striking was the network’s financial and digital sophistication. Its terror activities were funded through a hybrid of illegal arms proceeds and, surprisingly, standard UPI accounts to maintain a veneer of legitimacy. However, the very technology they relied upon proved to be their undoing.While the operatives utilised encrypted chat platforms to communicate with their handlers, persistent digital forensics by intelligence agencies allowed investigators to pierce through the encryption. By tracing these virtual footprints, cops were able to neutralise a multi-layered apparatus that sought to weaponise India’s youth against the state.
