Security agencies have raised the alarm that Pakistan’s ISI is attempting to establish small, clandestine arms and bomb-making modules across India, a tactic described by officials as reminiscent of the Burdwan bomb-making network exposed in West Bengal in 2014. The warning follows the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people and India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor, both of which led to unprecedented security tightening along the Line of Control (LoC).
Intelligence Bureau intercepts and agency assessments show that heightened border security and successful countermeasures against cross-border smuggling have pushed handlers to adopt new tactics. Unable to reliably move weapons and explosives across the LoC or by previously used routes, the ISI is reportedly encouraging localised cells to manufacture munitions domestically in remote, low-visibility locations.
Agencies fear the replication of a Burdwan-like model, where bomb components and explosives were produced in cottage-industry settings, including firecracker units that escaped early scrutiny, because such small, dispersed operations are harder to detect. In 2014, a similar network produced explosives at scale before it was uncovered; authorities now warn that a repeat of that model would enable steady supplies for insurgent groups operating in Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere.
Intelligence reports say the ISI’s strategy also includes routing funds into India through hawala and other clandestine channels, with much of the money originating from Gulf sources. Previously, when conventional infiltration and smuggling routes were possible, handlers used human couriers and drone drops, particularly through Punjab, to move narcotics, cash and weapons into the country, moving them onward to conflict zones. Indian agencies say technological upgrades and stronger surveillance largely curtailed those methods, prompting the latest pivot to on-shore manufacturing.
Central agencies have advised state police and local enforcement units to step up coordination and information sharing. Officials emphasise early detection and swift shutdown of any suspected manufacturing units, stressing that even a single slip-up could allow dozens of small workshops to spring up and produce significant quantities of arms or explosives.
Detecting such operations will be difficult, officials concede, because the planned factories are likely to be located in remote or rural settings and deliberately disguised as ordinary small-scale industries. That deliberate cover, combined with decentralised, cottage-style production, complicates routine policing and requires targeted intelligence, community reporting, and inter-agency raids based on verified leads.
Security analysts say the threat carries dual aims: to enable terror attacks inside India and to maintain a reliable supply line of arms to militants operating in Jammu & Kashmir. The agencies’ advisory asks state authorities to intensify surveillance of suspicious financial flows, monitor known hawala networks, and flag unexplained spikes in raw materials commonly used in explosive manufacture, while maintaining civil liberties and avoiding panic.
Local law-and-order units are being urged to train personnel to recognise telltale signs of illicit workshops and to build trust with rural communities so that unusual activities do not go unreported. Central agencies have promised to provide actionable intelligence where possible, but warn that success will depend on prompt state-level action and rigorous follow-up.
The alert underlines a broader concern among security planners: as external routes close, adversaries may resort to more dispersed, less conspicuous tactics that are harder to counter unless intelligence, policing and community vigilance operate in tight synchrony.
