Among 19,a woman ‘who helped Pak spy’

A native of Khanpur town in Auraiya district,Sitara Begum is lodged in Kanpur jail. The police has booked her under Sections 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life),121 (waging,or attempting to wage,or abetting waging of war against the Government of India) and 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) of the IPC.

Sitara (50) was caught by the ATS from Mainpuri in August 2010. The police recovered two cellphones from her which,they said,she had used to remain in contact with people in Pakistan. The police found one of the two SIM cards was purchased on a fake address.

The prosecution said the police produced Sitara’s call detail record in court to establish its claim that she was in contact with people in Pakistan. The chargesheet against Sitara has been filed and trial has begun.

The police claimed that Waqas was a Pakistani spy who had been collecting and passing information about Indian military installations to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) since 2005. Documents like prohibited maps of military sites,military codes and a diary containing names and addresses of people living in different Indian and Pakistani cities were recovered from his possession,they added.

During questioning,Waqas told the police that he stayed at Sitara’s rented house at Kalyanpur. The police raided the house and found a driving licence and a voter-ID card of Waqas.

The prosecution said it came to light during investigation that Sitara knew about the activities of Waqas. “The voter-ID card of Waqas,which was recovered from the house of Sitara,was made on a fake name Ibrahim Khan. The card carried the address of Sitara’s residence”,said an official.

During questioning,Sitara said she came in contact with Waqas in 2006 when she went to Farukhabad to attend a wedding. Waqas had come there along with one of her relatives. Later,he remained in regular contact with her family. He visited Kanpur several times and also helped the family in financial matters,the prosecution said.

From 2008,Waqas started staying with them on the pretext of starting a business. Sitara’s lawyer Shakeel Ahmed Bundel said Waqas later married Sitara’s daughter.

The police said Waqas was recruited by one Farookh,an ISI official,in Lahore in 2004. After training,he was reportedly sent to India through Wagah border with a Pakistani passport on April 16,2005. Waqas said he had come to India on the pretext of watching a India-Pakistan cricket match,the police added.