New Delhi:
Haryana Police and federal agencies said Monday afternoon that they had uncovered a ‘network of spies’ feeding Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence with classified data, potentially including information about military bases at a time of heightened tension between the two countries.
Police from Haryana’s Nuh said they had arrested a second individual linked to the ‘spy ring’.
He has been identified as Tarif, the son of Hanif, from a village in Nuh’s Tauru subdivision.
The first was 23-year-old Arman, who was arrested last week based on intelligence inputs. The cops said they have evidence to prove Arman was passing sensitive information to Pak.
In addition, cases have been filed against two employees of the Pak High Commission in Delhi
The arrests of Tarif and Arman are part of a crackdown on what the authorities believe are Pakistani spy networks operating across Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat.
So far more than half-a-dozen individuals have been arrested, including Jyoti Malhotra, a popular YouTube personality whom the police believe was being ‘groomed’ by Pakistani handlers.
READ | Who Is Jyoti Malhotra, YouTuber Arrested For Spying For Pak
She was arrested last week for sharing information about Indian military ops.
Ms Malhotra visited Pak in 2023, when she met a Pak High Commission officer (File).
Ms Malhotra, 33, whose YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’ is very popular, had reportedly been contacted by an official from the Pak High Commission and visited that country at least twice.
Others arrested include Davendra Singh Dhillon, a 25-year-old Political Science student from a university in Punjab’s Patiala, and Shahzad, a businessman from UP’s Moradabad.
READ | Vlogger, Student, Businessman, Guard: 8 ‘Pak Spies’ Arrested By India
Mr Dhillon was arrested in Haryana’s Kaithal. The cops found he visited Pak in November and believe he shared info – including images of the Patiala military cantonment – with the ISI.
Mr Dhillon was arrested for uploading photos of guns on Facebook (File).
Mr Shahzad too allegedly shared sensitive information with Pak, and the authorities believe he provided logistical support to terrorists already within India and waiting to mount attacks.
The rush of arrests is particularly significant given India has accused Pakistan of continuing – in violation of international law and demands by global watchdogs like the United Nations and the Financial Action Task Force – to fund and sponsor cross-border terrorist attacks on Indian soil.
India has blamed the terror network in Pak for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam last month, in which 26 people, mostly civilians, were murdered by gunmen from a proxy of the Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been recognised internationally as a terrorist organisation.
India responded with a precision military mission – Operation Sindoor – that targeted terror camps in Pak and Pak-occupied Kashmir. Islamabad responded with attempted military strikes of its own – targeting Indian military and civilian populations – but their attacks were all but neutralised.
After suffering heavy damage in retaliatory strikes, Islamabad settled for a ceasefire.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government has warned Pak and the Pak deep state against continuing to target India or Indian citizens, stating military actions under Operation Sindoor – Delhi’s new doctrine on terrorism – had been suspended pending its cooperation in dismantling terrorist infrastructure in that country and returning illegally occupied Kashmir.
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