Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force arrested a man in Moradabad for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. The accused is a resident of Tanda in UP’s Rampur district.
The man, identified as Shahzad, was arrested after there were reports of him being involved in cross-border smuggling and spying as an agent for ISI, PTI reported.
Shahzad had allegedly been passing sensitive information related to national security to his handlers in Pakistansaid the Special Task Force. He had travelled to Pakistan on several occasions.
He was also allegedly involved in the smuggling of items such as cosmetics, clothes, spices, and others across the border, the report added.
Apart from passing on intelligence to ISI, Shahzad was also involved in running the operations for Pakistan’s intelligence agency in India, India Today reported, citing officials.
The probe revealed that Shahzad had also transferred money to other Pakistani agents working in India, the report said. He also allegedly helped to send some people from Uttar pradesh to Pakistan, pretending it was for smuggling but with the actual aim of hiring them for activities related to ISI, the report added. These people were allegedly sent to Pakistan with visas and travel documents arranged with the help of ISI agents.
Shahzad has also allegedly helped arrange Indian SIM cards for ISI agents operating in India.
Shahzad’s arrest comes amid a nationwide crackdown on people allegedly spying for Pakistan in India amid recently soaring tensions between the two countries following the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
Recently, a YouTuber and vlogger from Haryana, Jyoti malhotrawas also arrested on espionage charges. Malhotra was allegedly in contact with a Pakistani officer stationed at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi during the four-day intense military conflict between India and Pakistan from May 7 to May 10. The official has been declared persona non grata and expelled by India.
