‘ISI agent’ arrested in Mazgaon

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday picked up a man suspected to be an agent of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) who had been living under cover in the city. Sources said the suspect,Salim Moojiwala,had been staying in Mazgaon area. He was picked up in a secret operation by the Crime Intelligence Unit of the Crime Branch,after it received specific information about the suspected agent’s whereabouts.

Sources said incriminating documents,including identification papers,had been seized and his nationality was being verified. They added that the police were also ascertaining whether Moojiwala had recceed locations in the city,or was aiding in a cross-border counterfeit Indian currency racket. The Crime Branch chose to remain tight-lipped about the operation and refused to divulge details on how long Moojiwala had been staying in the city,the cover he had been using,and what his activities were. They also remained silent on whether the operation was linked to the probe into Tuesday’s Varanasi blast in any way. After investigators found that the Indian Mujahideen’s terror e-mail to media houses following the blast had been sent from Navi Mumbai,the Mumbai Police Crime Branch had launched its own investigations to unearth a possible local link to the attack. Moojiwala was produced in the Esplanade Court,which remanded him in police custody till December 12.