State police nab Pak spy in Jammu

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, February 13

The Pathankot police today arrested a Pakistani agent, Sajjad Hussain, from Jammu today.

He was arrested after the police interrogated Pakistani spy Irshad Ahmed and his aide from Moga Sandeep Malhi, and obtained vital clues from them.

RK Bakshi, SSP, refused to divulge the details although senior officers claimed that the arrest of Sajjad, who has been booked under the Official Secrets Act, is part of a larger international conspiracy. Hussain was remanded to police custody till February 18 by a local court.

Sources said the NIA had prepared a list of 250 persons who had temporary access to the Pathankot airbase and used to work inside the base in various capacities.

On February 2, the Pathankot Police had taken into custody Irshad, a labourer working in Mamoon cantonment. Later, the police had picked up Sandeep. 

The former had been taken into custody after he was found to be clicking pictures of military installations 

on his mobile phone.

Officers claim now that all the three are in the custody of the police, it has become easier for the police to untangle the conspiracy.

The police were hot on the trail of Sajjad and the Pathankot police team was successful this morning when they were able to nab him from Hari Marhot in Surankote area in Jammu.

Sources said Irshad had told the police that Sajjad had assigned him the task of spying and Pakistani spy agency ISI was paying him. "The latter had gone to Pakistan where he came in contact with ISI and the spy agency asked him to provide them information about the Army and other installations. He had received money from ISI through Western Union and in lieu of that he sent pictures of vital installations to the ISI. He got in touch with Irshad, who in turn got Sandeep Malhi to work for the ISI. Both Malhi and Irshad were sleeper cells of Sajjad," said an officer handling the investigations.

The arrests come within a month of the terror attack at the Pathankot air base in which seven security personnel were killed along with six militants.