Pakistani national arrested in Bengal for allegedly spying on Indian army, navy
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Kolkata: Wahab Alam, the Pakistani national arrested in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, was allegedly sent by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to collect information on the Indian Army, Navy and Railways in the country’s eastern sector, according to state police sources.
Alam was arrested from the Habra area of North 24 Parganas. During marathon questioning by sleuths of the West Bengal Police’s Special Task Force (STF), he allegedly admitted that he entered India through the India-Nepal border in 2012 and had since been living in different parts of the state, frequently shifting his base.
Following his arrest, STF sleuths seized forged Indian identity documents from him, including an Aadhaar card, PAN card and EPIC card.
Police sources said Alam obtained the forged documents through another person, identified as Muhammad Izaz, who was also arrested by the STF from the Topsia area of East Kolkata following Alam’s interrogation.
Before moving to Habra, Alam had reportedly been staying at Izaz’s residence in Topsia. According to information gathered by the STF, he left the Topsia area soon after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise began in West Bengal earlier this year, ahead of the recently concluded Assembly polls.
The STF suspects Alam was planning to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh and therefore shifted to Habra, which is relatively close to the India-Bangladesh border.
The STF is currently questioning Alam and Izaz to identify their other associates in the state. Investigators are also trying to determine what information Alam had already passed on to his alleged handlers in Pakistan.
Reacting to the arrest, state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul said such elements could establish deeper roots in West Bengal due to what she described as the “nurturing by the previous Trinamool Congress regime”.
“My appeal to people is to be alert. If any suspicious persons or any suspicious activity is detected in your locality, kindly contact the local police station immediately,” she told media persons.
With IANS inputs