Tuesday, March 13, 2012

ISI operative held by crime branch – The Pioneer – 22.2.12


The Delhi Police have busted a spy network by arresting a Pakistani national who was sent by the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to gather sensitive information about the deployment of Indian armed forces. Identified as Kamran Akbar (39), he had come to Kolkata in 1992 and was living as an ‘Indian citizen’. He had married a woman in Kolkata and had two children. He had also managed to procure all the important documents such as Election ID card, passport and driving licences from Sikar in Rajasthan and Kolkata to prove his citizenship.  DCP, Crime, Ashok Chand said, “Kamran Akbar alias Attar alias Asif Hossain is originally from Karachi in Pakistan. He was residing in Kolkata and   h a d   a r  r  i v e  d   i n   D  e l h i   o n February 13. He was carrying incriminating documents pertaining to the Indian security forces  that were to be sent to his handlers in Pakistan. There was an information that an ISI agent had come to Delhi for receiving confidential documents from his contact in Delhi. Accordingly, a trap was laid and  Kamran was arrested from Chemsford road near the New Delhi railway station. He was to board ‘Poorva Express’ for Kolkata on February 13 night itself, but his plan was aborted by a Crime Branch  team led by Additional DCP, Crime Ravi Shankar.  According to a police official, Kamran had come to meet his contact from the India armed forces. These people were highly placed in the armed services and were in touch with Kamran’s handlers in Pakistan. He was almost successful in the purpose with which he was sent to India as he had already passed on the required information to his commanders in Pakistan. 
In 1990, he left studies and came to Kolkata in 1992 f  rom  Pa  k i s t  an  on   a   v a l id Pakistani  passport to meet one of his relatives. He stayed in Ko l k a t  a   w i t  h   h i s   u n c l e Mohammed Salim. He, along with his uncle and his uncle’s associate Asraf Khan, went to Goa. To fulfill their needs, they started robberies, but in their second attempt they were caught and arrested. In 1996, he was released and came back to Kolkata with his Pakistani passport having expired; he made fake Indian passport in  the name of Asif Hussain and went back to Pakistan. Akbar was motivated and drafted by the ISI to work for them. ISI found that a person holding an Indian passport had entered Pakistan on a month’s visa, but had not gone back. They soon realised that he was, in fact, a Pakistani who had an Indian passport. It  as here that he was won over. He was told that he would be adequately compensated for his services. An ISI handler identified as ‘Chauhan’ was tasked to handle him. Akbar was launched for espionage  activities to India in June 2007 after he was trained by ISI people. He was imparted training by ISI in trade craft knowledge about Indian military ranks, orbat, formation signs, TAC numbers, codes to be used for communication, surveillance and anti surveillance measures, Internet, email chatting and some lessons in Hindi, DCP Crime said. He was assigned Delhi as his target area and was asked by his ISI handler to cultivate personnel of the Indian armed forces. He revealed during his interrogation that he came to Nepal via Dhaka on a Pakistani passport and was given a driving licence of Sikar in Rajasthan and $ 4 0 0 .   A f  t e r   r e  a c h i n g Kathmandu, he illegally entered India and reached Kolkata.
“Since 2007, he was spying for Pakistan and residing in Kolkata. In order to settle down in India, he married a woman from West Bengal in 2009. He is the father of two children and also has a business of garment selling,” the official reported. His bank transactions i n d i c a t e   t  h a t   h e   r e  c e n t  l y received over  30,000 in his account. He had also received m o n e  y   t  h  r o u g  h   h aw a l a   channels, the DCP added.   

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