Amritsar: Two Indian nationals held on charges of spying for ISI
Amritsar, May 18: The Punjab Police claim to have busted a cross-border espionage network. In an intelligence-led operation, the State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar, arrested Zaffar Riaz and his accomplice Mohd Shamshad on charges of spying for the ISI, Pakistan.
During preliminary investigations, it came to light that in 2005, Zaffar Riaz got married to a Pakistani national, identified as Rabia. Initially, Rabia stayed with him in Kolkata, but after his accident in 2012, they shifted to Lahore due to financial constraints. Zaffar frequently travelled to India on the pretext of his treatment.
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During this period, he got in touch with Pakistan Intelligence Officer (PIO) namely Awais, who claimed to be working in the FRRO office, Lahore. The accused was "allured" by the PIO to work for the ISI, Pakistan, as a result of which during his visits to India, the accused clicked photographs and videos of Indian Army buildings, vehicles etc. and shared the same via encrypted apps.
During preliminary inspection of his cellphone, those photographs and videos were recovered. During the interrogation, Zaffar further revealed that he also introduced his old contact Mohd Shamshad to Awais.
Shamshad said he had been living in Amritsar for the last 20 years and operated a lemonade cart opposite Amritsar railway station. He said on the orders of Zaffar, he clicked and shared the photographs of Air Force station and Cantt area of Amritsar with him multiple times, who further sent those photographs to Awais.
A case has been registered against the duo. Further investigations are on.
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Meanwhile, the Amritsar police have arrested two persons and recovered 32 bore pistols from their possession. The accused have been identified as Karanbir Singh and Sukhbir Singh. They will be produced in the local court.
In yet another case, the Amritsar police arrested a youth with 130 gram of heroin. On a tip-off, the police laid a name and arrested the accused.
-PTC News with inputs from Maninder Singh Monga
