15-year-old boy has been arrested in Pathankot for allegedly sharing sensitive security-related information with handlers linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror networks operating from across the border. Security agencies said the minor “fell into a well-planned Pakistani trap,” highlighting how the ISI continues to exploit vulnerable Indian youth through online platforms to gather intelligence and further its proxy war against India.

Online Grooming and Manipulation

According to investigators, the teenager was first contacted through social media and online gaming platforms, where ISI-linked operatives posed as friends and sympathisers. Over time, these handlers allegedly radicalised and manipulated the minor, gradually extracting information related to security movements and sensitive locations in the border district. Officials said the boy was coaxed with emotional validation, ideological propaganda and small financial incentives standard tactics used by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to avoid direct exposure while recruiting assets at the lowest possible level. “This case shows how Pakistan has adapted its espionage methods, moving from trained operatives to digitally groomed minors,” a senior security official said.

Pakistan’s Proxy War Model

Indian agencies view the Pathankot arrest as part of a broader and consistent pattern. Pakistan, unable to confront India militarily, has long relied on asymmetric warfare using terror groups, sleeper cells and now minors to destabilise internal security. Experts note that the use of children for espionage reflects the moral bankruptcy of Pakistan’s security establishment. “When a state intelligence agency begins exploiting teenagers, it exposes the desperation and decay within that system,” a counter-terrorism analyst observed.

Security and Legal Action

The minor has been taken into protective custody and is being dealt with under juvenile justice laws, with a focus on counselling and de-radicalisation rather than punishment. Meanwhile, security agencies are working to trace the ISI handlers and terror-linked networks that orchestrated the operation from Pakistan. Authorities have also increased digital surveillance and issued advisories urging parents, schools and local communities especially in border areas to stay alert to signs of online radicalisation and suspicious foreign contacts.

Pakistan’s Denial, India’s Evidence

While Islamabad routinely denies involvement in such cases, Indian officials argue that repeated arrests across Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and other states clearly point to a coordinated ISI strategy. The Pathankot case, they say, is further proof of Pakistan’s continued use of covert and unethical tactics to undermine India’s security.

The arrest serves as a stark reminder that Pakistan’s intelligence war against India has entered a new and dangerous phase—one that deliberately targets children. As India strengthens its counter-intelligence and cyber monitoring capabilities, the Pathankot incident underlines the urgent need for public awareness and collective vigilance against Pakistan’s evolving proxy warfare. 

This image is taken from Times Of India.