Soldier suspected to be ISI operative held in Bengal

Kolkata/New Delhi: A soldier, who was detained by the army on suspicion of spying for Pakistan, was arrested in West Bengal's Darjeeling district by the Delhi Police on Sunday, officials said.

"Rifleman Farid Khan of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry was detained by the army a few days back after some incriminating documents were found in his possession. He was handed over to the police today (Sunday)," a defence ministry spokesperson told IANS.

Farid Khan alias Surgeon was currently posted in West Bengal's Siliguri for the past few weeks. He is suspected to be a part of ISI module which was busted with the nabbing of a school teacher from Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.

Earlier posted in Rajouri, Khan allegedly came in contact with an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operative and passed on vital information.

He "came in contact with ISI operative Kaifaitullah in 2014 after a school teacher named Sabar introduced them", said a police source in Delhi.

Following a request by the Delhi Police Crime Branch, Khan was detained by the army in Siliguri on December 2 and was handed over to them during the day.

According to the police, Khan was cultivated by Sabar Khan, the school teacher who was arrested on Friday from Rajouri.

Earlier, the Delhi Police arrested Border Security Force (BSF) head constable Abdul Rasheed and 44-year-old library assistant Kafaitullah Khan alias Master Raja for obtaining secret information related to India's national security and sharing it with Pakistan's ISI.

Kafaitullah Khan was arrested on November 26 from New Delhi railway station while Abdul Rasheed was held from Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Kafaitullah Khan is also a resident of Rajouri district, while Rasheed was posted with the BSF intelligence wing in the same district. The former was allegedly working for ISI for monetary benefits.

Busting the spy module, the Special Task Force of Kolkata Police has arrested six alleged ISI operatives from the city since November 14 after they nabbed Akhtar Khan.

The STF then arrested Akhtar's brother Zafar Khan two days later.

Subsequently, the trio of Irshad Ansari, Asfaq Ansari and Mohammad Jahangir was arrested for their alleged role in leaking strategic information to the ISI.

Besides a host of forged documents and fake Indian currency notes, the police also seized hand-drawn maps of defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) which builds warships for the Indian Navy.