Espionage case: Pakistan High Commission staffer told to leave; envoy protests

Simran Sodhi and Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 27

The recent India-Pakistan straining of relations on Thursday took a nosedive with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoning Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit here. 

Delhi Police had detained an official of the Pakistan High Commission on charges of espionage. He has been identified as Mehmood Akhtar and was in possession of sensitive documents. But since he enjoys diplomatic immunity, the police released him.

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Meanwhile, Jaishankar told Basit that the staffer had been declared persona non grata. According to sources, Basit protested against the treatment meted out to the official saying his detention was in violation of the Vienna Convention. Sources said the High Commissioner rejected all allegations saying the Pakistan High Commission never engaged in any activity that is incompatible with its diplomatic status. 

Delhi Police had been tailing Akhtar for the past few months and arrested him from near the Delhi Zoo. Two Indian nationals, Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir, have also been arrested. They were in possession of sensitive defence-related documents and information and allegedly handed them to the official.

A fourth person, Shoaib, who is a Jodhpur-based passport and visa agent, was detained by Rajasthan police this evening and was being brought to Delhi. Shoaib was present at the meeting at the Delhi Zoo yesterday but had managed to give a slip to police.

Sources in Delhi Police said they did not rule out possible involvement of some BSF troopers in the racket as they believethat Akhtar and his accomplices could not have got hold of deployment details unless somebody in BSF was leaking them.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement in which they have alleged that this act by India reflected Indian actions to shrink diplomatic space for the working of Pakistan High Commission. It claimed that these were attempts by India to deflect international attention from the human rights violations being conducted by the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Since the Uri attack last month, the bilateral relationship has gone from bad to worse. After India responded with surgical strikes against terrorist launch pads in Pakistan, Thursday’s busting of the spy racket being run from the Pakistan High Commission is expected to further strain the relations.

Meanwhile, according to sources in the security agencies, Mehmood Akhtar used to Rs 2,000 to Rs 2 lakh to identified agents who used to provide sensitive information and documents. These agents were identified and hired by Pakistan’s ISI, they said.

Sources said Akhtar’s favourite place for meeting the Indian agents was Delhi Zoo.

A Delhi court remanded Jangir and Ramzan to 12 days in police custody.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said that Mehmood Akhtar and his family have been given 48 hours’ time to return to Pakistan.

In a statement issued on Thursday evening, India also denied Pakistan’s accusations that they were India’s attempts to divert attention from rights abuses in Kashmir.

“Today morning Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar summoned the Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and informed him that India had intercepted an official of the Pakistan High Commission in the pursuit of espionage and that he was being declared persona non-grata," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

"The Pakistan High Commission has been informed that Mehmood Akhtar and his family must return to Pakistan by October 29. The Foreign Secretary also strongly conveyed to the Pak High Commissioner that the Pak High Commission must ensure that none of its members indulge in activities inimical to India, or behave in a manner that is incompatible with their diplomatic status," Swarup said.

He also rejected Pakistani allegations of "mishandling" Akhtar, saying he was treated with "utmost courtesy". "When he was handed over to the Pakistan High Commission in the presence of a ministry official, Akhtar himself said he was treated well," he added.

Swarup said Akhtar told the police that he had joined the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1997 and came on deputation to the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) in 2013 and posted in September 2013 to the Pakistan High Commission where he is presently working as Assistant to Farukh Habib, Counsellor (Trade).

Recently, Akhtar provided details on the Indian Army unit movement in Kashmir to his masters in Pakistan. The details provided were so specific that it is feared that if ISI passed them on to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul terror groups, they could target Indian Army convoys and camps.

Pakistan called the charges false and unsubstantiated and said it was in violation of the Vienna Convention.

(With inputs from PTI)