'Op Mahadev': India’s bid to deflect losses against Pakistan exposed

India has initiated a covert campaign named "Operation Mahadev" in a bid to conceal its setbacks during the recent war with Pakistan, security sources told Geo News on Monday.

The plan, the sources told Geo News, includes reviving fake encounter tactics and framing illegally detained Pakistanis as cross-border terrorists.

According to security sources, the Indian military has begun staging fake operations under the banner of Operation Mahadev following the failure of its earlier campaign, Operation Sindoor.

These fake encounters are part of a broader plot to suppress the growing freedom movement in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and to salvage the political credibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

The sources said Indian authorities intend to use Pakistani detainees already held in Indian jails in these staged operations. Under the plan, detainees will be killed and later declared terrorists who crossed the border.

Following the false flag operation in Pahalgam, Indian forces resumed these encounters, with two Kashmiris allegedly martyred on April 24 after accidentally crossing the border.

The sources added that Indian media have already been supplied with images and videos of the bodies and planted weapons to back these fabricated stories.

Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has previously disclosed the illegal detention of 723 Pakistanis in Indian jails, including 56 individuals forcibly held by Indian intelligence agencies.

The same 56 individuals were mentioned by the DG ISPR during his briefings on 29 and 30 April, the sources added.

He had warned that these illegally held persons may also be coerced into giving anti-Pakistan statements or later falsely presented as killed terrorists, further escalating India's disinformation campaign.

India suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of Pakistan in May after Islamabad launched Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos in retaliation for India's Operation Sindoor.

Pakistan, during the 87-hour conflict, downed its six fighter jets, including three Rafale, and dozens of drones. The war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.