After Haryana blogger, UP businessman arrested for 'spying' for Pakistan
Police found the UP businessman Shehzad was recruiting people for Pakistan’s spy agency ISI from his hometown and was also giving money to ISI agents in India
After Haryana YouTuber, a businessman from Uttar Pradesh's Rampur has been arrested on Sunday (May 19) for allegedly ‘spying’ for Pakistan.
The police told reporters that during the probe they found that the UP businessman was recruiting people for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from his hometown and was also giving money to ISI agents in India.
Secret agent
According to the police, the accused, Shehzad, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), after they got a tip off that a man working on the India-Pakistan border was smuggling goods with the support of the ISI.
Working on the tip-off, they tracked the man, and identified him as Shehzad from Rampur district. ATS said in a statement that the police arrested Shehzad from Moradabad on Sunday.
The police investigations revealed that Shehzad secretly travelled between India and Pakistan for years, bringing cosmetics, clothes, spices, and other items across the border illegally.
Also read: UP ATS arrests ordnance factory worker for spying for Pakistani intelligence
On these trips, he worked for ISI, stayed in regular touch with their agents, and shared secret information about India’s security, according to the police. His illegal trade served as a cover for conducting his covert operations for the ISI, the ATF said.
Facilitating ISI operations
Further, the investigation also revealed that Shehzad used to provide money and Indian SIM cards to the ISI agents in India. The police claimed he also recruited people from the Rampur district and other parts of Uttar Pradesh to Pakistan to work for the ISI.
"The visas of these people were arranged by the ISI agents," the agency said. Shehzad is also accused of establishing close contact with multiple ISI operatives and supplying them with sensitive and confidential information related to India's national security.
Also read: Mufti Shah Mir, who helped ISI kidnap Kulbhushan Jadhav, shot dead
Officials said the accused was not only passing on intelligence but also facilitating operations for the ISI within India.
The arrest
A case has been registered against Shehzad under Sections 148 and 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the ATS police station in Lucknow. The accused has been produced before a magistrate and further legal proceedings are on.
Travel blogger arrest
This arrest comes days after the Haryana police took travel blogger Jyoti Rani into custody for allegedly spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies during Operation Sindoor.
Rani was picked up from the New Aggarwal Extension area in Hisar district after she was found sharing “sensitive information” with an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
She was booked under Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (acts that endanger India’s sovereignty, unity, and integrity). A court has remanded her to five days’ police custody on May 17.