The digital recruiter | Shahzad Bhatti

Over the past two years, the name of a social-media influencer from Pakistan has been surfacing in several terror-related investigations in India.

What started as a bid by the individual identified as Shahzad Bhatti to establish fear and clout in the border State of Punjab soon spread to 14 States, with several young men finding themselves behind bars under the stringent anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for acting on his directions. Their assigned tasks included pasting posters glorifying Bhatti and his associates, installing CCTVs near critical installations, which were being live-streamed into Pakistan, or making extortion calls.