Nuh lawyer arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan

On the basis of inputs from central agencies, an espionage case was registered on Monday, following which Mohammad Rizwan Khan was detained.

A lawyer has been arrested from Tauru, a town in Haryana’s Nuh district, for allegedly spying for Pakistani intelligence operatives, police officials said on Wednesday, adding that his colleague had also been held for questioning.

On the basis of information provided by Khan during interrogation, police on Wednesday also detained his colleague Musharraf. (PTI/ Representational)

Police identified the suspect as Mohammad Rizwan Khan, 24, a lawyer practising in a Gurugram court. He hailed from Kharkhari village, Tauru.

On the basis of inputs from central agencies, an espionage case was registered at Sadar Nuh police station on Monday, following which Khan was first detained Monday evening near Pipaka village, in Tauru, as he was returning home from Gurugram.

He was officially arrested on Tuesday night. On the basis of information provided by Khan during interrogation, police on Wednesday also detained his colleague Musharraf (single name), alias Parvez, from Nuh for questioning.

A senior police official privy to the investigation said that, during Khan’s questioning, they discovered chats which “prima facie” established that he was in contact with suspected Pakistani operatives over WhatsApp and other messenger apps, and was passing them various kinds of information for the last several months.

“He had also been to Pakistan several times to meet his extended family members. It is suspected that he might also have been trapped by some officials in the Pakistan high commission on grounds of granting him visa,” the official said. Police also suspect financial transactions made into Khan’s bank account were sent by Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIO) in exchange for passing on information to him.

Khan’s family members said that they learnt of his arrest on Wednesday morning after a police official called them about it.

Meanwhile, during interrogation, it was found that other suspects might also be involved, hence, a team led by Tauru deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Abhimanyu Lohan has left for Punjab to arrest more suspects in the case who were linked with Khan.

Police said that a detailed investigation was ongoing in which central agencies were also providing help.

Khan is the third person from Nuh to be arrested this year on charges of spying for Pakistan. On May 16, police arrested Mohammad Arman, a resident of Rajaka village, from Badkali Chowk. The next day they arrested Mohammad Tareef from Tauru’s Kangarka village. Tareef had allegedly supplied Indian SIM cards to officials in Pakistan high commission in Delhi for getting his visa approved. Both had been to Pakistan several times.