Archive · 29 Sep 2026
Terror groups use dead drops to funnel contraband into India
Some terrorist groups are using a method called a dead drop.
This means they leave money, weapons, drugs or messages in a hidden place for someone else to collect.
Drones may drop items, or people may leave them in fields and isolated areas.
The people moving the items often do not know who sent them or who will collect them.
This makes it harder for investigators to connect everyone in the supply chain.
Groups also use shared email accounts and write messages in saved drafts instead of sending emails.
The article says this method has been used to plan operations and direct activities in India.
Indian agencies are using special computer tools to find deleted or unsent messages.
Officials expect terrorist groups to continue using these tactics.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Babbar Khalsa International and Sikhs for Justice are using dead-drop methods in India.
Funds, weapons, narcotics and operational instructions are transferred through isolated locations, rural areas and drone deliveries.
Multiple intermediaries handle consignments without knowing the original supplier or final recipient, making investigations more difficult.
Operatives have also used shared anonymous email accounts and saved drafts to communicate without sending messages.
The National Investigation Agency is using forensic tools to recover deleted drafts, raw disk data and temporary cloud links.
- Who
- Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Babbar Khalsa International and Sikhs for Justice, along with their handlers and local operatives.
- What
- They are using dead-drop techniques to transfer funds, weapons, narcotics and operational instructions.
- When
- The methods have increasingly been used in recent times.
- Where
- In India, including Punjab, Delhi, rural areas, isolated locations and highway stretches.
- Why
- To avoid direct contact, conceal handlers and make the supply and communication trails harder for security agencies to trace.
- Main tactic
- Dead drops that separate suppliers, intermediaries and recipients.
- Items transferred
- Funds, weapons, ammunition, narcotics and operational instructions.
- Delivery methods
- Drones, isolated locations, rural areas, fields and highway stretches.
- Digital method
- Shared anonymous email accounts using saved and deleted drafts instead of sent messages.
- Example payment
- Preetpal Singh was reportedly paid Rs 1.5 lakh through a dropped location on the Amritsar-Faridkot highway.
- Investigating agency
- The National Investigation Agency is using forensic tools to recover raw disk data, deleted drafts and temporary cloud links.