Pak-backed spy racket busted

GURADASPUR, Oct 1: Gurdaspur police have claimed to have busted a spy racket run by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan for obtaining s...

GURADASPUR, Oct 1: Gurdaspur police have claimed to have busted a spy racket run by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan for obtaining sensitive information about industrial installations and military data in India.

Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav told mediapersons today that secret information was received that one Amanwal Masih alias Manna alias Chacha, resident of Badwan village under Dhariwal police station, was working as a spy for a Pakistani agency and had been crossing the Indo-Pak border with sensitive information. The SSP said that Amanwal Masih was also smuggling arms, explosives and narcotics.

Yadav said that Masih was arrested during a special police naka in Baupur Afgana village near Dhussi katcha embankment drain bridge yesterday night under the supervision of Charanjit Kumar, DSP Detective and Anokh Singh Sub-Inspector in-charge of CIA staff, Gurdaspur, and certain documents and maps covered by the Official Secrets Act were recovered from his possession. A case under Official Secrets Act, Indian Passport Act, Arms Act and Explosives Act has been registered, the SSP said.

Yadav said that photographs and maps of the Madhopur Road Bridge, Dhariwal Mill, sensitive canal bridges and military and Air Force installations were also recovered from the possession of the accused. He said that during his interrogation Masih had disclosed that he had been working for a Pakistani intelligence agency for the last several years and had crossed the border many times. He had also used Samba sector in Jammu and Dera Baba Nanak sector for crossing over to Pakistan. Yadav added that he had revealed more than a dozen names of people involved in criminal and anti-national activities. More arrests were likely in this connection, the SSP added.

Dadwan village has an interesting history of trans-border activity. Dadwan, a medium-sized village in the vicinity of Dhariwal town, is mostly populated by Dalit Christians. As a result of poverty and unemployment, many villagers had been indulging in trans-border smuggling before the border was fenced. Some of these persons were allegedly used by Pakistan for obtaining intelligence about India.