Pakistan spy racket: Visa agent from Jodhpur nabbed; third Indian to be arrested in the case

Police has arrested a Jodhpur-based passport and visa agent, Shoaib, allegedly involved in the espionage ring run by a Pakistani High Commission official. Shoaib was detained near Jodhpur on Thursday evening and after being brought to New Delhi, he was arrested, a senior police officer said on Friday. After getting a tip-off, police had on Wednesday nabbed Pakistan High Commission official Mehmood Akhtar along with two Indians identified as Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir at Delhi Zoo while the visa agent Shoaib had managed to escape. [caption id=“attachment_2464434” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Mehmood Akhtar, who worked in the visa section of the High Commission and had diplomatic immunity, was procuring critical details including those about deployment of BSF personnel along the Indo-Pak border from accomplices in India, three of whom have been arrested so far. Described as the kingpin of the spy ring, 35-year-old Akhtar belongs to the Baloch regiment of Pakistani Army and was on deputation to spy agency ISI since 2013, investigators said, adding they also probing possible involvement of more people from the Pakistani mission. Akhtar and two Indians, Subhash Jangir and Maulana Ramzan were picked up from Delhi Zoo on Thursday at around 10 am, while Shoaib was nabbed from Jodhpur, Rajasthan later in the evening. Akhtar was released after around three hours of interrogation as he enjoys diplomatic immunity. India asked Akhtar to leave the country within 48 hours. Subhash Jangir and Maulana Ramzan have been sent to a 12-day police custody and the Police hassaid they are seeking Shoib’s custody as well. It was found that Shoaib was responsible for recruiting Subhash and Maulana in the module. Shoaib had come in contact with Maulana around one-and-a-half years back and lured him into activities of collecting vital information about the installations of army and paramilitary forces in Gujarat and Rajasthan, the officer said. The police will seek his custody, the Joint CP of Delhi Police Ravinder Yadav said. “We had sent a request to Jodhpur Police about detaining Shoaib and yesterday (Wednesday) evening he was detained,” said the officer. In a press conference in Friday, the Delhi Police revealed that Shoaib had links in the Pakistani High Commission and he had visited Pakistan at least six times. The police said that Shoaib’s maternal grandparents and his mother’s family lives in Pakistan, so he had been visiting Pakistan often and has multiple contact points there. The police also said that Shoaib was found in possession of some sensitive documents and a phablet, which he later tried to destroy. He has been operating smoothly in India since last 3-4 years, before he was nabbed on Thursday. The police believe that Shoaib’s questioning is likely to reveal information about other spies in the racket and uncover some more Pakistani links. With inputs from PTI