Journalism of Courage
The probe into the alleged organised espionage racket has now put an Army official, who is posted in West Bengal, under the scanner. The official allegedly agreed to provide sensitive documents to ISI operative Kaifatullah Khan, but asked for Rs 2-5 lakh in return for every document.
In a related development, a team of the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch left for Rajouri on Tuesday to carry forward the probe. Khan was arrested from the New Delhi railway station, while on his way to Bhopal last Thursday. He was taken to his native place, Rajouri, from where police nabbed BSF head constable Abdul Rasheed. Police have now identified two alleged ISI handlers — a retired Army havaldar and a government school teacher — who reportedly worked for Khan and cultivated their relatives working with the paramilitary forces to aid his operations. The Delhi Police team sent to Rajouri will attempt to nab them.
Sources said Khan told the police after interrogation that he had lured one Farid alias Sarzan — currently posted in West Bengal with the Army. “Khan approached Farid with the help of his relatives in February this year. He asked him to start working for him and start providing some sensitive documents and information on security deployment… However, Farid asked him to first deposit Rs 2-5 lakh in his account, but he kept forcing him to first send some documents to him,” sources added.
The probe also revealed that days before the PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Badami Bagh Cantonment, the arrested handlers had provided a map of the same cantonment to their Pakistan-based ISI handler Faisal. Police had seized the map of Badami Bagh area from Khan’s residence on Sunday. Sources said Khan revealed that after some sensitive documents, especially maps of troop positions and movements of the BSF, were transmitted across the border, several persons intruded into India.
“Probe has also revealed that Rasheed had double-crossed Khan and established direct contact with Pakistan-based Faisal, who earlier assigned tasks to the duo through the latter,” said a police source. “Khan was going to get trained in Pakistan in spy gadgets,” police sources said.
