Ten held as RAW network busted in Karachi, Punjab
Four arrested in Karachi, six in Punjab as authorities warn of India-backed plots
Staff Report
KARACHI/LAHORE: Hours after four alleged operatives of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) were arrested in Karachi, Punjab’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) claimed on Wednesday to have apprehended six local facilitators of the Indian intelligence agency from various districts in the province.
The arrests were disclosed at a joint press conference in Lahore by Punjab Additional Inspector General of Operations Shehzada Sultan and CTD SSP Operations WaqarAzim.
Flanked by senior police officials, they briefed reporters on what was described as a major breakthrough in thwarting foreign-sponsored terrorist activity on Pakistani soil.
According to officials, the arrests followed a coordinated series of raids conducted across multiple districts. Explosives and detonators were recovered in Toba Tek Singh.
In Bahawalpur, a RAW facilitator receiving funding via Dubai was taken into custody, while two more individuals were arrested from Bahawalnagar for obtaining improvised explosive devices (IEDs) directly from India’s Border Security Force (BSF).
The CTD said it had also uncovered plans to attack a mosque and a railway station in Bahawalpur. Investigators said they intercepted audio communications involving two senior RAW officers—identified as Major RavindraRathore and Inspector Singh—which they said revealed the operational scope of the planned attacks.
The CTD recovered IEDs, safety fuses, and confidential maps from the arrested suspects. Officials added that intercepted instructions from Indian handlers detailed plans for targeted killings and attacks on sensitive locations across the country.
“These six individuals are Pakistani nationals who had been covertly working for RAW,” said Additional IG Sultan, adding that the Indian agency was funding its network in Pakistan through Dubai, using cryptocurrency and informal branchless banking channels to avoid detection.
The officials termed the arrests a “major success” and said further investigations were underway to dismantle any remaining elements of the network operating in Punjab and beyond.
Earlier, four individuals said to be working for RAW were detained in Karachi during a raid conducted by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) in the Quaidabad area of Malir.
The arrested individuals were accused of spying on military and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor sites, said intelligence agencies and the SIU of Police. They were identified as Muhammad Khan Bariyo alias Guloo, Akhtar, Jameen Mullah aliasJaman and GhulamQadir alias Akash.
SIU Superintendent of Police Muhammad ShoaibMemon said that the prime suspect, Muhammad Khan, a resident of Sujawal District, had been in contact with RAW and a certain Colonel Ranjeet from the Indian Border Security Force’s Camp No 59 since 2009.
The arrested suspects would travel there and provide sensitive information, including photos of key installations, details of deployed personnel and geo-tagged locations, he added.
