Regarding the ‘killing’ of Shahid Bilal

Why did he become expendable (if at all he was expended)?

Shahid Bilal, the suspect behind many a recent terrorist attack in India, has reportedly been bumped off by the ISI.

Bilalâ€™s mysterious killing, just five days after the twin bombings in Hyderabad, has baffled Indiaâ€™s intelligence agencies. Pakistanâ€™s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) could have bumped off Bilal after they realised he was very much on Indian intelâ€™s radar screen, say people familiar with the situation. But they do not rule out the possibility of Bilal being killed by rivals within the terror network. [DNA]

The explanation—that the ISI bumped him off as he attracted too much attention—doesn’t wash. There are several unbumped-off high-profile terrorist suspects in Pakistan. If this is not deliberate disinformation, it is more likely that his untimely demise owes itself to internecine rivalry.

There is, of course, a chance that a ‘foreign hand’ was involved in sending Bilal back to the pavilion. Or, at the least likely end of the spectrum of possibilities, it could even have been an act of propitiation by the ISI. We’ll have more light when Praveen Swami and B Raman write about this one.

11 thoughts on “Regarding the ‘killing’ of Shahid Bilal”

  1. The preceding phrase Or, at the least likely end of the spectrum of possibilities makes it tougher to guess..

  2. In fact, “the least likely” bit should give you a clue. Who do you think the ISI is least likely to propitiate?

  3. The party ISI least likely to propitiate (in my guess) would have wanted the man alive. So things didnt add up to me. Thats why my first question.

  4. Sriram,

    Obviously, the ISI is not going to give the party all it wants; but you know, putting the chap out of commission is more than halfway there. Like they did to A Q Khan, who couldn’t be just bumped off.

    Besides, getting the man alive might cause its own set of problems; legal process, media attention, political effects etc come into play.

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