After Maoists, Counter-Intelligence is top priority for Modi government

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Since the Narendra Modi government took over in 2014, India has been able to increase the cost of terrorism on Pakistan and perpetrators within by regularly busting terror modules or by military retaliation against camps across the border. PM Narendra Modi with Home Minister Amit Shah.However, one of the main focuses of the government since Amit Shah took over as Home Minister has been counter-intelligence (CI). Often neglected by the previous regimes, the national security establishment has put CI on the front burner by taking action on foreign intelligence, their networks and their operatives within India. Before this, there was hardly any check on western intelligence spreading their political and military tentacles within India apart from usual suspects—Pakistan’s ISI and Chinese MSS—penetrating the Indian society and social media. India's security landscape has faced threats from multiple fronts over the last decade, not just at its borders but deep within its territory. Foreign actors have tried to infiltrate military zones using forged identities, built document fraud networks across multiple states and plant surveillance equipment inside high-security installations. Pakistani ISI, Chinese intelligence, Bangladeshi terror networks and Western intelligence and their mercenaries have each tried to pursue their own objectives on Indian soil, often simultaneously. However, India's counter-intelligence agencies have progressively dismantled these operations, arresting operatives, chargesheeting handlers and closing in on networks embedded deep within Indian territory. India's CI response draws on a layered institutional architecture. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) leads federal prosecutions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Official Secrets Act, with a conviction rate of approximately 95% in cases it handles directly. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) manages internal intelligence and runs the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) for real-time intra-agency sharing. The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) tracks foreign operatives and cross-border intelligence networks. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which guards the Indo-Nepal border and has been central to intercepting Chinese intelligence infiltration. State police, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, have been the first line of detection in several major espionage cases. The Border Security Force (BSF) and Army units have supported ground-level operations where intelligence and terrorism threats have converged. The cases below highlight some of the most significant counter-intelligence operations mounted by Indian security agencies in recent times. Matthew Aaron Van Dyke (USA) & Six Ukrainian Nationals (Covert Military Training & Drone Smuggling Network- Arrested March 2026) Van Dyke, founder of private mercenary firm Sons of Liberty International (SOLI), was arrested at Kolkata airport on 13 March 2026. Six Ukrainians, Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim and Kaminskyi Viktor, were simultaneously arrested at Lucknow and Delhi airports. They moved to Mizoram without obtaining mandatory restricted area permits and crossed into Myanmar on multiple occasions. There, they conducted training sessions for ethnic armed groups in drone operations, assembly and jamming technology. According to NIA's chargesheet, these groups have confirmed links to proscribed Indian insurgent organisations, and the accused were actively supporting them by supplying weapons, terrorist hardware and training. All seven were charged under Section 18 (Terror Conspiracy) of UAPA and remanded to 30-day judicial custody on 6 April 2026. Pakistan/ISI-Directed Operatives: (Nepali-Origin ISI Agent, Classified Army Document Theft- Arrested February 2025) The Delhi Police Special Cell arrested Ansarul Mian Ansari, a Nepali-origin Pakistani spy, from Central Delhi on February 15 while he attempted to flee to Pakistan via Nepal. Trained in Rawalpindi, Ansari had been gathering sensitive information about the Indian Army and was found in possession of classified documents. He was tasked by ISI to make a CD of the confidential documents and send it to Pakistan. Ansarul revealed he used to work as a cab driver in Qatar, where he was recruited by his ISI handler. Forensic examination confirmed the recovered documents were classified Armed Forces material. The three-month operation was jointly run by the central agencies and Delhi Police Special Cell from January to March 2025. (Military Installation Live Feeds- 2025) Pakistan's ISI ran a sophisticated surveillance network inside India, planting disguised solar-powered SIM-enabled CCTV cameras at high-security locations including Delhi Cantonment Railway Station, Pune Railway Station and other military installations. The cameras streamed live feeds directly to ISI handlers in Pakistan via WhatsApp. The network was planning to install over 50 such cameras across India, with handlers paying ₹500 to 15,000 per task. UP Police and central agencies dismantled the operation, making 15 arrests. The network comprised approximately 20 to 25 members, including foreign-recruited handlers. Among those arrested was Ganesh Giri, a Nepal-origin operative who had been recruited and tasked by ISI handlers to install cameras at key military sites. (Indian Navy Secrets, Visakhapatnam- Case Registered 2021, NIA Chargesheet 2023) Pakistani national Meer Balaj Khan ran an espionage network leaking sensitive and classified information pertaining to the Indian Navy, specifically Karwar Naval Base and Kochi Naval Base details, via social media, with cash payments routed from Pakistani intelligence operatives in return. The case was originally registered by the Counter Intelligence Cell, Andhra Pradesh, in January 2021. NIA took over in June 2023. Total arrests in the case reached eight, spread across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. (Military Reconnaissance, Indo-Nepal Border in Bihar- Arrested May 2025) Two suspected Chinese intelligence operatives, Wu Hailong, 38, from Liaoning province and Seng Jun Yong, 30, were arrested by SSB personnel in Madhubani district of Bihar near the Indo-Nepal border. Neither possessed valid travel documents. Several anti-India and pro-Khalistan videos were recovered from their mobile phones. Their arrest followed two consecutive days of unidentified drone intrusions over Bihar from the Nepal side. Central intelligence agencies immediately took over the interrogation. (Army Installation Photography, Indo-Nepal Border in UP- Arrested May 2024) A Chinese national was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police and the Sashastra Seema Bal for espionage activities along the India-Nepal border. Photographs of Indian Army installations and records of trips to Pakistan were found on his phone. The case reinforced a now-established pattern of Chinese operatives using the Indo-Nepal corridor as a covert entry route for military reconnaissance. (Fake Nepali Identity Infiltration- 2023) Three Chinese nationals were arrested in an attempt to infiltrate India through Nepal using fake Nepali identities and fraudulent Indian passports. Indian intelligence agencies suspected this represented a broader Chinese operation involving recruited Nepali agents and corrupt passport officials operating along the porous border. (Key Installation Reconnaissance, Delhi- Arrested February 2023) Wang Goujun, 26, entered India through Nepal without a valid visa, travelled to Delhi where he visited various critical installations and was arrested at the Gauriphanta-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri, UP by SSB while attempting to return to Nepal. He was charged under IPC Section 121, waging war against the Government of India, a provision rarely invoked in espionage cases, reflecting the seriousness with which agencies assessed his reconnaissance activities. (Deep Cover Identity Fraud, Delhi, Arrested October 2022) Delhi Police apprehended Cai Ruo, a Chinese national from Hainan province, who had been residing in India under a false identity as a Nepalese citizen named Dolma Lama, claiming to be a Buddhist. Her inability to speak Nepalese raised initial suspicion. Investigation revealed fabricated documents and identity cards and confirmed suspected espionage and anti-national activities. The case was flagged as a sophisticated deep-cover intelligence operation. (Document Forgery & Safe House Operation, Noida- Arrested June 2022) Noida Police raided a property in Gharbara village, revealing a Chinese-only club operating as a safe house and coordination point for nearly 20 Chinese nationals residing unlawfully in India. Chinese national Xu Fei, 36, a resident of Xinji, Hebei, was arrested. Document forgery equipment, including machinery used to produce fake Aadhaar cards and voter IDs and multiple blank smartcards were seized. Network connections were traced across Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Northeast India. Hamidullah alias Raju Gaji & Mohammad Sahadat Hussain alias Abidullah (JMB Infiltration & Radicalisation Network- Arrested August 2022) The NIA arrested two Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operatives from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (Hamidullah from Narayanganj and Mohammad Sahadat Hussain from Madaripur districts of Bangladesh). Investigations established that both had illegally entered India to further violent activities, entering into a criminal conspiracy to radicalise and motivate Indian Muslims to carry out violent jihad. Both communicated with handlers via encrypted applications and were chargesheeted before a special NIA court in Bhopal. (JMB Document Fraud & Module Building, West Bengal- Arrested November 2021) The NIA arrested Md Abdul Mannan Bachu, a Bangladeshi JMB operative, from South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, on charges of arranging fake Indian identity documents, including forged voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards, for JMB members who had illegally entered India. He was suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami and was actively building intelligence and terror modules in West Bengal at the time of his arrest. A clear pattern runs through a decade of counter-intelligence operations across India's security landscape. Different actors, different nationalities and different objectives, but a remarkably consistent set of methods, entry routes and vulnerabilities. ISI's espionage reach extends far beyond J&K. Technical surveillance networks have been found operating inside Delhi Cantonment itself. The Visakhapatnam naval espionage case alone involved multiple arrests. China is running a patient, systematic intelligence campaign via Nepal. From fake Buddhist monks in Delhi to military installation photography along the Bihar border, multiple arrests from 2022 to 2025 point to coordination, not coincidence. Document fraud is the common thread across all nationalities. Pakistani ISI operatives, Chinese intelligence agents and Bangladeshi operatives all used or manufactured fake Indian identity documents, Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and passports, to embed and operate inside India. The Indo-Nepal border has emerged as the single most exploited entry corridor. It is used simultaneously by Chinese intelligence operatives, ISI-recruited Nepali agents and Pakistani spy networks, a structural vulnerability that cuts across all threat streams. India's counter-intelligence front has grown measurably more capable in its response, operationally sharper, legally stronger and internationally better connected. Yet the threat has evolved in equal measure. Pakistani networks are running increasingly sophisticated technical surveillance operations. China is conducting coordinated cross-border intelligence collection. Foreign mercenaries are treating India's Northeast as an open corridor with Pakistan’s military leadership ready to exploit Indian vulnerabilities in the region by using networks in Bangladesh. The Indian agencies are also focused on enemies within the establishment who trade national security secrets for silver and kind. With Home Minister Amit Shah expanding the IB network with huge budget increase and large recruitment, the pressure has increased on India baiters. Author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (2011, Hachette) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (2014, Hachette). Awarded K Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 by Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and the 2011 Ben Gurion Prize by Israel.Read More