Inside India’s Secret Crackdown on ISI Sleeper Cells: How a Nepali Spy, ISIS Agents, and Operation Sindoor Are Linked

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New Delhi: In a covert multi-agency crackdown that unfolded between January and March 2025, the Delhi Police, with support from central intelligence agencies, dismantled a suspected ISI sleeper cell network operating across India. The high-stakes operation led to the arrest of two suspected Pakistani agents, including a Nepali-origin man identified as Ansarul Mian Ansari, who is believed to have been recruited and trained by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to ANI, Ansari was apprehended at a hotel in Delhi just as he was preparing to leave for Pakistan. The arrest proved to be a turning point in the operation. Several classified Indian defence documents were recovered from him. A chargesheet was filed in May, and both arrested agents are now lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Officials revealed that Ansari had worked as a cab driver in Qatar, where he allegedly came into contact with an ISI handler. He was soon flown to Pakistan for espionage training. After completing his training, he re-entered India through Nepal, with instructions to collect sensitive information, digitize it, and send it back to Pakistan. Based on his interrogation, police also arrested an accomplice from Ranchi.

The bust comes at a time when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is intensifying its pursuit of ISIS-linked sleeper cells. In a separate case, two absconding ISIS operatives, Abdullah Faiyaz Shaikh alias Diaperwala and Talha Khan, were arrested at Mumbai Airport after returning from Jakarta. They were wanted in a 2023 Pune case involving the fabrication and testing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). A special NIA court had issued non-bailable warrants against them, and a ₹3 lakh reward was earlier announced for leads.

According to PTI, Shaikh and Khan were part of a 10-member ISIS sleeper cell in Pune, eight of whom are already behind bars. Investigators say the group conspired to carry out coordinated terror strikes in India and aimed to incite communal unrest by “waging war against the Government of India” in line with ISIS ideology.

These heightened operations are taking place in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory military strike on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

The cross-border exchanges escalated into drone warfare and heavy shelling until both nations agreed to a ceasefire on May 10. However, Indian intelligence agencies believe sleeper cells may still pose a long-term internal threat, with recent arrests signaling a proactive crackdown.

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