New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad Sunday arrested a businessman from Moradabad on charges of passing on sensitive information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as well as supporting its network of operatives in India.
A UP ATS spokesperson said that the accused, identified as Shehzad from the state’s Rampur district, had travelled to Pakistan multiple times under the garb of trading spices, cosmetics and clothes.
Shehzad has been booked under Sections 148 and 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which deal with conspiracy to wage war against the government, and acts that endanger India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity, respectively.
The UP ATS has said that Shehzad maintained good relations with ISI operatives in Pakistan, and was working at their behest to further strengthen their network in India. For this, investigators have alleged, he provided funds and SIM cards to the agents on the direction of their handlers in Pakistan.
“The investigation also brought to light the fact that Shehzad, at the behest of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, used to provide money to their agents present in India many times. Shehzad was also sending several other individuals from Rampur and other parts of Uttar Pradesh to Pakistan under the guise of smuggling to work for ISI,” a spokesperson said.
“The agents also made arrangements for visas, etc., of these people of the Pakistani intelligence agency. Shehzad had also provided Indian SIMs to the agents of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI to spy against India.”
The latest arrest came a day after Haryana Police arrested YouTuber Jyoti Rani Malhotra on charges of sharing sensitive information with a Pakistani national, Ahsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, earlier posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, who allegedly cultivated her as an asset for sharing of information.
On 8 May, the Malerkotla district police in Punjab had arrested two suspects, Guzala and Yameen, who allegedly belonged to this “espionage” module. Punjab Police found that Guzala met Danish at the Pakistan High Commission, when she went to apply for a visa in February, ThePrint had reported.
Danish allegedly continuously connected with these operatives through social media and communication apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. While Guzala never went to Pakistan, Yameen visited twice—in 2018 and 2022—while Jyoti went to Pakistan four times, investigators in Punjab and Haryana have found.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: Indian travel vlogger Jyoti Malhotra arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan, FIR cites ISI links