On Friday, the Special Task Force (STF) in Dehradun apprehended a 29-year-old man named Vikrant Kashyap, who is accused of maintaining connections with Shahzad Bhatti, a terrorist from Pakistan affiliated with the Al Barq Brigade.
According to the STF, Kashyap was transmitting details and video recordings of significant government and military sites in Dehradun to contacts in Pakistan. He is also alleged to have been working to establish the Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH) within India. This obscure group reportedly claimed responsibility for an attack in February where two police officers were shot at a checkpoint near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab.
Kashyap, a Dehradun local who resided in Punjab from 2024 to 2025, was arrested early Friday morning. Officials recovered a .32 caliber pistol, seven bullets, and a can of spray paint from him, which he allegedly used to mark ‘TTH’ on various building walls.
Bhatti is said to be engaged in illegal operations such as manufacturing explosives and smuggling weapons and ammunition to locations including India, Dubai, the United States, and Canada.
An STF officer stated that Kashyap communicated regularly with Bhatti and an associate named Rana through Instagram and WhatsApp. During questioning, Kashyap admitted to admiring Punjabi musician Sidhu Moosewala and seeking retribution for his assassination. He discovered Bhatti’s social media content about avenging Moosewala’s death, became influenced, and eventually established direct contact.
Bhatti reportedly directed Kashyap to capture footage of critical sites, including police stations, the Interstate Bus Terminus (ISBT), police headquarters, and other official structures in Dehradun and surrounding regions. These recordings were sent to Bhatti, who indicated that the sites would be bombed.
Additionally, Kashyap was instructed to inscribe ‘TTH’ on walls at prominent spots to instill panic and publicize the group. He allegedly provided location data and videos of the Jhajhra police outpost to Pakistani handlers and was tasked with hurling a grenade at members of a Delhi-based organization and a Supreme Court lawyer. In return, he was offered financial rewards and assistance to relocate to Dubai through Nepal. Kashyap was employed in a factory producing truck components.
Previously, Bhatti was linked to a grenade incident in November at the City Police Station in Gurdaspur, Punjab. Investigations by Delhi Police suggested this was part of an organized terror network that employs financial lures, remote directives, and expendable operatives to execute grenade assaults in public areas across India.
Bhatti had associations with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, but their alliance reportedly deteriorated following a terror incident in Pahalgam in April. A social media message attributed to the Bishnoi group threatened to infiltrate Pakistan to target those behind the Pahalgam killings. In response, Bhatti posted a video on Instagram, mocking Bishnoi’s capabilities and claiming evidence of who ordered the murders of Siddiqui and Sidhu Moosewala. He warned that criticism of Pakistan would end any friendship and challenged Bishnoi and his associates to enter Pakistan.
