‘Resident Pak spy’ arrested in Capital
A 39-year-old 'resident espionage agent' of Pakistani-origin, who had been given the task of 'developing sources' in the Indian Military establishment exclusively, was arrested from the heart of the capital a week ago, the Crime Branch claimed on Tuesday. Jatin Anand reports.
A 39-year-old 'resident espionage agent' of Pakistani-origin, who had been given the task of 'developing sources' in the Indian Military establishment exclusively, was arrested from the heart of the capital a week ago, the Crime Branch claimed on Tuesday.
Sources claimed Kamran Akbar, who is from Karachi, had already recced two army installations — the Indian Army Cantonments located at Meerut and Dehradun respectively, and was in constant touch with his handlers in Pakistan through a common email account.
"Akbar was tasked by the Pakistan Military Intelligence to come to Delhi to collect defence-related documents, which were to be sent to his handlers, but was apprehended with these on his way to board a train for Kolkata," said Ashok Chand, DCP (crime) but refused to elaborate. Police claimed Akbar, recruited by the military intelligence agencies of Pakistan in 2004, had initially been assigned the capital as his 'target area' but had gradually taken to travelling across UP, Orissa, Bengal and Rajasthan voluntarily.
According to sources, Akbar's main inputs came from retired Indian Army officials —dozens of whom he had befriended to access maps and hard copies of other information about domestic military establishments.
"He then scan these papers, convert them into soft copies and paste the information in an email message. This would then be accessed using a common password by his handlers through the 'drafts' section," an officer said.
After leaving his studies in 1990, Akbar had taken-up petty jobs and came to Kolkata on a valid Pakistani passport to visit his relatives, police said.
When the military intelligence agencies in Pakistan got to know about Akbar's stay in India, he was recruited, trained in speaking Hindi, and finally launched for espionage to India in June 2007 at a promise of being 'adequately compensated', Chand said.
"In Kolkata, he resided with his uncle in Kidderpore area and began a garments' business before getting married to a local woman sometime in October 2009. He received money through hawala in return for information," Chand said.