By Vicky Nanjappa
The massacre of 26 people in Pahalgam prompted a swift Indian retaliation through Operation Sindoor that destroyed multiple terror camps and eliminated dozens of militants in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir..
One of the most significant hits was on the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters, known as the Markaz Subhan Allah camp, in Bahawalpur. The strike not only destroyed the entire facility but also killed relatives of JeM chief Masood Azhar. The extent of damage from the strike, coupled with the site now marked as ‘permanently closed’ on Google Maps, clearly indicates that the outfit is unlikely to rebuild the facility anytime soon.
While JeM may find it hard to revive easily in Pakistan, Indian intelligence agencies have now picked up information that the outfit is gradually moving to Bangladesh to set up cells and modules. JeM would work closely with Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami (HuJI) and other terror groups with the sole focus of hitting India’s northeastern states. This would mean that JeM would have independent modules and cells in Bangladesh.
Muhammad Yunus, who became the head of the interim government after Sheikh Hasina’s departure last year, was quick to open up to Pakistan and China, sending a message that he wanted to be closer to these countries rather than India. Also, immediately after assuming office, the Yunus government released several hardcore anti-India terrorists and criminals with strong connections with Pakistan’s ISI.
Two very crucial moves that Yunus made alarmed Indian agencies as they posed a massive security threat. The first was opening up the country’s sea route to Pakistan. Secondly, he eased the visa norms to such an extent that getting into Bangladesh from Pakistan would be as easy as hailing a cab. This means that Pakistan can transport arms and ammunition easily through the sea route and also send terrorists without worrying too much, as the visa norms are too lax for Pakistanis.
JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), making their moves in Bangladesh, did not begin after Operation Sindoor. It was an ongoing process, but following the retaliation by the armed forces, the process has been fast-tracked.
The opening of the sea route and easing of visa norms have significantly simplified travel for Pakistanis to Bangladesh. Intelligence Bureau sources reveal these channels have been used to send top recruiters and cadres into Bangladesh, with the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka playing a key role. Notably, in 2015, consular official Mazhar Khan was charged by Bangladesh for links to terror groups and involvement in a fake currency racket. The High Commission continues to be a conduit for facilitating terrorist entry into Bangladesh.
Alongside sending Pakistani terrorists to Bangladesh, the ISI has launched a major recruitment drive, training local Bangladeshi youth and Rohingyas in Bandarban, Chittagong. Recruits are being inducted into JeM and LeT, with the ex-Pakistan Army Special Forces overseeing the training programme.
ISI has outlined a four-pronged strategy: establish bases in Bangladesh with support from local terror groups and Jamaat-e-Islami; train recruits to carry out attacks in India; drive mass infiltration to stoke communal tension and alter demographics in the Northeast and West Bengal; and radicalise students by infiltrating universities via the Islami Chhatra Shibir. LeT’s Saifullah Kasuri hinted at this plan on May 28, declaring from Kasur, Lahore, that “the time has come to divide Bengal”.
Agencies have warned that a similar strategy may be deployed in Indian universities, with radical elements infiltrating campuses to indoctrinate select students, mirroring the pattern seen in Bangladesh. The primary targets would be universities located in states bordering Bangladesh.
Security agencies have learned that JeM and LeT are establishing independent modules in Bangladesh to launch direct attacks on India, bypassing increased surveillance by India’s armed forces on the Western front. With plans to eventually shift the headquarters of these two terror outfits from Pakistan still underway, the ISI is accelerating efforts in Bangladesh, seeking to gain control over its administration and law enforcement to turn the country into a strategic terror launchpad.
JeM and LeT are focusing on Bangladesh’s coastal stretch from Chittagong South to Cox’s Bazar and the Myanmar border. HuJI has six camps in this area, and two Pakistan-based terror groups are planning on setting up at least two each in these areas.
JeM also plans to fill the vacuum left by the weakened Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), particularly in the Rajshahi region. Indian intelligence warns that JeM will leverage JMB’s strong network, especially its links in West Bengal, to infiltrate India, as seen in the 2017 Burdawn bomb case. Additionally, JeM plans to plant operatives in mosques across Bangladesh to aid its radicalisation efforts.
Amar Bhushan, who served in the BSF Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W), says that the moves are extremely concerning. He notes that while Pakistani terror groups have long supported their counterparts in Bangladesh, the recent push to establish independent modules there marks a serious escalation and a growing security nightmare for India.
Bhushan reveals that as an officer in the RA&W, he had flagged a nexus between ISI and Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) that aimed at orchestrating large-scale infiltration into India. After the 1971 war, Pakistan perceived Bangladesh as a lost cause but sought to destabilise India by stoking communal unrest in the Northeast and West Bengal. While past infiltration attempts fell short because of friendly Indo-Bangla ties under Sheikh Hasina, the current pro-Pakistan Yunus regime in Dhaka has given the ISI a freer hand to escalate its operations, Bhushan warns.
According to the Intelligence Bureau, alongside LeT and JeM, groups such as HuJI, JMB, and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) are coordinating terror efforts. Though operating in different spheres, they share a common goal: to turn Bangladesh into an Islamic state and target India.
ISI aims to unify these groups under a single agenda, using Bangladesh as an active front while giving LeT and JeM time to regroup in Pakistan. Once in place, this strategy would force India to counter terror threats on two fronts: Bangladesh-based modules targeting the Northeast and West Bengal, and Pakistan-based groups resuming operations in Jammu and Kashmir.
Security planners warn that India may soon face LoC-like tension along the Bangladesh border. With the added threat from China, this could escalate into a multi-front challenge. On the eastern front, the focus would be on curbing terrorist infiltration, illegal immigration, and currency counterfeiting–likely leading to frequent skirmishes between the BSF and Bangladeshi forces.
Dr Abhinav Pandya, author of the book ‘Inside the Terrifying World of Jaish-e-Mohammad’ and founder of Usanas Foundation, warns that Pakistan’s strategy is to engage India on two fronts by deploying ISI-backed terror groups directly in Bangladesh. The ISI aims not just to control local outfits but to operate its own for coordinated attacks. India, he says, will need to launch repeated operations like Operation Sindoor to target terror masterminds and keep the threat in check.
