Operation Wolf Hunt: How a Failed UPSC Candidate Helped RAW Catch a Terrorist

Operation Wolf Hunt: How a Failed UPSC Candidate Helped RAW Catch a Terrorist

In December 2017, India's intelligence agency, R&AW, launched Operation Wolf Hunt to stop an ISI-funded ISIS terrorist from planning a major attack in Delhi. With no name or face to track, R&AW relied on financial intelligence and intercepted communications to identify the suspect—Uzair Gafi, an Afghan student in Noida.

To infiltrate Uzair’s network, R&AW recruited Sohail Khan, a failed UPSC candidate, who earned Uzair’s trust and arranged a bomb for him—one secretly designed by DRDO to be a dud. When Uzair tried to flee with the fake bomb, a dramatic chase unfolded through Lajpat Nagar’s streets. Cornered, he pressed the detonator—but nothing happened. R&AW had outsmarted him.

With Uzair’s capture, Operation Wolf Hunt succeeded, preventing a catastrophic attack and proving how intelligence, deception, and bravery can save a nation.