5 passports, 4 phones: What the Seema Haider probe reveals

Seema Haider, a Pakistani national who sneaked into India to be with her Greater Noida partner Sachin Meena, continues to dominate headlines. She and Sachin were questioned by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police for a second day in a row on Tuesday (18 July). Seema has been under the radar of the anti-terror cops over allegations of her links to Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Seema was earlier apprehended for entering India without a visa on 4 July, while Sachin and his father, Netrapal Singh, were nabbed for sheltering illegal immigrants. However, they were granted bail a few days later by a court in Greater Noida. What has the UP police recovered from Seema Haider and what do we know about the case? Let’s take a closer look. Multiple passports, cellphones As per News18, the Pakistani national was quizzed for 12 hours by the UP ATS regarding her entry into India via Nepal. She, along with Sachin and his father, was picked up by the anti-terror squad from their house in Greater Noida’s Rabupura on Monday as well and then dropped home late at night. According to reports, Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials were also present during the grilling. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the UP director general of police (DGP) said, “Two video cassettes, four mobile phones, five Pakistan-authorised passports, one unused passport with incomplete name and address, and an identity card were recovered from Seema Haider.” “As far as illegal entry to India is concerned, the district police are taking necessary legal action. All the accused are out on bail currently,” the police added.

Seema Haider case | Uttar Pradesh DGP office issues a brief note - "...Two video cassettes, four mobile phones, five Pakistan-authorised passports, one unused passport with incomplete name and address & ID card recovered from Seema Haider. Investigation of the same is underway.… pic.twitter.com/CYqhRhMWmP

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2023

As per Indian Express, a senior ATS official confirmed previously that they are investigating the espionage angle. The ATS is trying to draw out every detail from Seema about her route of travel from Karachi to Greater Noida, as per The Hindu. Her mobile phones and other items will be sent for data extraction to corroborate her statements, sources in UP ATS told News18. The IB has also sought a report from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the central force tasked with guarding the Indo-Nepal border in UP and Bihar, reported Hindustan Times (HT). Is Seema Haider a Pakistani spy? When asked if Seema is a “Pakistani agent”, Prashant Kumar, special director general (law and order), UP Police, as per news agency ANI, said on Wednesday, “This matter is linked to two nations, it is not right to say anything unless there is sufficient proof. She had once been to jail and is now on bail. Further action is being taken”.

#WATCH | Prashant Kumar, Uttar Pradesh Special Director General Law & Order gives details on Pakistani national Seema Haider case.

"No team is going anywhere," he says when asked if a team is going to Nepal.

When asked if she is a Pakistani agent, he says, "All agencies are… pic.twitter.com/SrZKSD0KVq

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2023

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HT’s UP ATS sources said Seema was asked questions about claims that her uncle and brother are in the Pakistan Army. Seema refuted the assertions, saying her brother was preparing to join the Pakistan Army, the newspaper reported. As per Financial Express, Seema was also asked how a Pakistani national can speak “accent-free” Hindi. [caption id=“attachment_12891352” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Pakistan’s Seema Haider has denied claims of her being a ‘spy’. PTI File Photo[/caption] Sources in central agencies probing the case told India Today that Seema Haider was “helped by professionals” to “dress and look like an Indian woman”. “Seema’s and her children’s looks were carefully fashioned to avoid being detected by security agencies”, the sources claimed. Speaking to India Today earlier, Seema had rebuffed the allegations of her being a spy. “No such thing. The truth will come out eventually. If this was true, I would have come to India alone, not with my innocent children”. ALSO READ: What happens when Indians and Pakistanis fall in love? Seema Haider and other stories of cross-border ‘pyaar’ What is the UP Police saying?  According to the UP Police statement, Seema and Sachin met through the online gaming app PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in 2020. They eventually started communicating via WhatsApp. Seema and Sachin first met in Nepal in March this year, where they tied the knot, as per an NDTV report. As per the note released by the UP DGP office, Seema Haider left Pakistan again on 10 May on a 15-day tourist visa. “She travelled to the Karachi airport with four of her children. From Karachi, she went to Dubai and then the next day, she left for Kathmandu early in the morning. She took a public transport van and reached Pokhara, Nepal in the evening. She stayed for a night at a hotel (whose name she does not recall) in Pokhara,” the UP DGP office said. The Pakistani national came to Nepal again on 11 May with her four children. The next day, she took a bus from Pokhara city and entered India via the Rupandehi-Khunwa border in UP’s Siddharthnagar district. “She came to Rabupura cut in Gautam Buddha Nagar via Lucknow and Agra. Sachin Meena had already rented a room in Rabupura (in Greater Noida) and both stayed together in that room since then,” Indian Express quoted the UP DGP statement as saying. With inputs from agencies