New Delhi: Ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, the Special Task Force of the West Bengal police arrested an alleged ISI agent living in Kolkata’s Topsia area who had allegedly entered India six times in the past few years, each time staying at the same address—a furniture trader’s house.
The STF identified the accused as Rana Rauf alias Wahab Alam, a resident of Pakistan’s Faisalabad.
When he was arrested Wednesday, the alleged ISI agent was attempting to cross the Indo-Bangladesh border with a fake Aadhaar and voter card.
Following a tip off, the STF arrested Rauf from Bongaon’s Habra area, in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
“In the wee hours of Wednesday, Rauf was trying to slip through the unfenced stretch in Habra to enter Bangladesh,” said a senior STF official. “Our investigation has shown that Rauf met with several ISI agents and officials in the Pakistani High Commission in Nepal, and was attempting to recruit young Indian citizens. He was trying to slip through the unfenced areas and move to Bangladesh to execute the further steps of their plan,” said the officer.
“Apart from these documents (Aadhaar and voter cards) we also found some confidential documents that are under the scanner at present,” said the officer.
Initial investigation has revealed that Rauf, originally from Pakistan, had moved to Kathmandu 12 years ago. “Being a skilled wood carving craftsman, he came in touch with one Md. Izaz, a furniture businessman residing in Kolkata’s Topsia area,” said the officer.
The officer told ThePrint that Rauf and Izaz first met in Nepal for work. “Over the past few years, Rauf entered India through the open Indo-Nepal border six times, and each time lived at Izaz’s residence for 2-3 months at a stretch,” said the officer.
As per the officer, Rauf told the police during interrogation that he had made fake Indian IDs with the help of Izaz. Following the arrest of Rauf, the STF also arrested Izaz from his residence in Topsia.
“We will be interrogating both the accused to determine what tasks they were entrusted with,” said the officer.
Prior to this, on 30 July, the STF had arrested one Hamim Mondal, an alleged operative of ISIS backed-outfit JeM from West Bengal’s Purba Burdhaman district. “Hamim Mondal was arrested from an upscale housing, Renaissance Complex,” the officer had told ThePrint.
According to STF officials, Mondal had carried out reconnaissance in the areas around Chinar Park in Kolkata’s New Town, where CM Suvendu Adhikari lives. As per STF sources, the accused had been tracking the CM’s movements, attending his rallies and public events to identify potential security loopholes.
Upon investigation, the West Bengal STF has found that there is no connection between Rana Rouf and Hamim Mondal.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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