The Uttar Pradesh police arrested a Varanasi resident this week on charges of spying for Pakistan. The development came amid heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Meanwhile a Haryana court sent YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra — nabbed for sharing sensitive information — to a four-day police remand on Thursday.
According to reports, the UP Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested a man named Tufail after he was found to be sharing photographs of sensitive locations with contacts in Pakistan. He also allegedly shared videos of Maulana Shah Rizvi — the leader of the banned Pakistani terrorist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik — in WhatsApp groups. A statement from the UP police ATS added that Tufail had also called for ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ or revenge for the Babri Masjid demolition and the implementation of Sharia law in India.
Meanwhile the Delhi Police revealed on Thursday that it had busted a network of ISI sleeper cells and arrested two agents of the Islamic State following a secret operation carried out from January to March this year. Police have recovered classified documents related to the forces from Nepali origin Ansarul Mian Ansari and caught him in Delhi while he was attempting to go to Pakistan.
Sources told ANI that Ansari had arrived in the national capital city at the behest of ISI. The The Pakistani intelligence agency reportedly asked him to make a CD containing confidential documents and send it to the neighbouring country. Another individual was arrested from Ranchi after his interrogation. As per sources, Ansari revealed that he used to drive a cab in Qatar, where he met an ISI handler. He was later taken to Pakistan and trained by top ISI officials for several days before being sent to Delhi via Nepal.
More than a dozen people have been arrested this month on charges of spying for Pakistan. While six of them have been held from Punjab, four were nabbed from neighbouring Haryana. This includes YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra who was allegedly in touch with Pakistani officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. India expelled the Pakistani official for ‘indulging in espionage’ last week.
The UP police had also confirmed the arrest of an alleged ISI agent from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh over the weekend. This was followed by the arrest of 25-year-old Kaithal resident Devendra Singh on Monday. The first year MA student had allegedly shared sensitive information with Pakistani intelligence operatives.
(With inputs from agencies)