Trial of spies for Israel's Mossad to start next week

31 December 2008

SANA'A, Dec. 31 (Saba) - Three nationals accused of spying for the Israel's Mossad intelligence agency will go on trial next week, news agencies in SANA has claimed.

The prosecution will hand over the case file within the next two days to the Penal Court after investigations with the accused completed, the state-run news portal (26sep.net) quoted judicial sources as saying so.

Basam al-Haidari, Emad al-Raimi and Ali Mahfal will be tried after enough evidence against them was shown. Three of the six-member network, arrested in October will, however, temporarily be set free for lack of evidence.

Informed sources last week noted three of the network confessed during investigations to working for Israel through communication with the office of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and the Mossad.

They said the contact took place via an unreal company FFRN. They said they told Israelis to transfer information about Yemen, an offer which was welcomed by the Israeli side. Israelis then told them they wanted them to conduct spy operations at the regional level.

A security source said the six-member ring was a jihadist network and had threatened to attack foreign and Arab missions in the country including the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

During the raid on the network’s hideout, security forces found items including a computer set, which revealed there was contact between the network and an Israeli intelligence service. During the correspondence, the network asked for help to carry out terrorist activities inside Yemen, the security source said.

Taliban kill three ‘US spies’ in North Waziristan

December 29,Miranshah: The Taliban on Sunday killed three men on suspicion they were spying for the United States in various areas of North Waziristan Agency. A body was found near Sargardan chowk, west of Miranshah Bazaar.


A note found on the body said the man was a US spy and a cassette in which he made the confession would be publicised soon. Two more bodies were found near Khesu Khel Pul, 24 kilometres east of Mirali tehsil of Miranshah.


A similar note, proclaiming they were US spies, was found on the two bodies as well. The note said those spying for the US forces would be treated in a similar manner. (The daily news)

Accused of spying for Israel to go to court

[27 December 2008]

SANA'A, Dec. 27 (Saba) - The Specialized Penal Prosecution has completed investigations with three locals accused of spying for Israeli intelligence services, informed sources have noted.


The state-run 26sep.net quoted these sources as saying the accused confessed during investigations to working for Israel through communication with the office of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Israel's Mossad intelligence agency via an unreal internet web "FFRN".


They said they expressed readiness to transfer information about Yemen, an offer which was welcomed by the Israeli side.


However, the Israeli side told them they wanted them to conduct spy operations at the regional level.

The case would be referred to the Penal Court in prelude to their trial.

A security source said the three-member spying ring, arrested in October, was a jihadist network led by Emad Ali Saeed al-Runi, Abul Ghaith, and had threatened to attack foreign and Arab missions in the country including the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.


During the raid on the network's hideout, security forces found items including a computer set, which revealed there was contact between the network and an Israeli intelligence service.


During the correspondence, the network asked for help to carry out terrorist activities inside Yemen, the security source said.

High-End Laser Powered Hidden Camera Hunter, Stealth Hawk! No Spy Covert Camera can hide

Stealth Hawk: Spy hidden camera finder, Stealth Hawk! it detects the camera lens of any wired or wireless camera.

Dec 26, 2008 –Nothing can hide from the most powerful laser camera detector on the market today, Stealth Hawk! No special training required. Plug-n-Play! This Stealth Hawk will find more hidden cameras with less false results and greater accuracy than any other product on the market today.


Have you ever concerned that you and your loved ones have been spied with hidden covert cameras in bathrooms, hotel rooms, fitting rooms, and in your own bed room. This revolutionary Stealth Hawk is considered as a Must-Have Gadget for police, private investigators, security professionals, or virtually anyone that wants privacy assurance.


This amazing device can detect the lens of any wired or wireless camera and the most powerful spy finder camera detector ever made on the market today. EZspyCam introduces the High-End Premium Laser Powered Hidden Camera locator, the Stealth Hawk.

Two high-power alternately pulsating lasers scan for camera lenses up to 80ft. away. Hidden cameras are easily and quickly located and viewed as bright flashing red lights by simply looking into the 3X magnified, focus adjustable, optical glass view port. Due to laser frequencies focused on camera lens reflectivity, "false" alerts are virtually eliminated.



The Stealth Hawk locates all kinds of cameras, including pinhole cameras, coverts cameras that are having a hidden video camera inside objects such as clock radios, smoke detectors, PIR sensors, Lamp stands, etc. Simply turn the unit on, look through the adjustable viewfinder, scan area and any hidden cameras with a lens that are found will be viewed as a twinkling red light it’s that simple!



How to use:

1. Place batteries in the device and switch on.

2. Simply look through viewfinder and hidden bugs are viewed as bright flashing red lights.

3. Find hidden cameras up to 80 Feet away and in daylight.

Features:

1. Detects all wired or wireless cameras with naked eyes

2. Laser frequencies focused on detecting the camera lens reflectivity

3. Easy to use and takes only 1 min to scan one room size about 650 sq. ft.

4. View finder can zoom in 3 times and focus adjustable.

5. Operated w/ 4x AAA batteries and can use up to 12 hours continually.

Specifications:

Locater: Dual High Power Laser Frequency LEDs
Waveband: 920mm
Viewport: 4X Adjustable Focus Optical Glass
Laser detecting range of wired cameras (self-shoot): 3ft – 65ft
Detecting range of Wireless Cameras (RF device): 1.5ft – 80ft
Power supply: 1.5V AAA battery x4 Up to 12 hours of continuous use.
Viewing Lens: IR filtered lens
Work mode: Left and right laser, searching
Current consumption: 80mA
Size: 101x52x33mm
Weight: 125g

No Saudi held for spying: Egypt

December 26: Egypt's foreign ministry has denied claims by a human rights group that an Egyptian man was being detained in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of spying but was instead facing unspecified "security charges".


The Egypt-based Arabic Network for Human Rights had said that software engineer Yusef Ashmawi, who has been held in Saudi Arabia for four months, was accused of spying for Egypt.

"During the only visit he was allowed, he told his brother-in-law that he was being accused of spying on Saudi intelligence and relaying the information to Egypt," the network's chief Gamal Eid said.

But Egyptian consular affairs official Ahmed Rizq told media agencies that Ashmawi, who was contracted to work for the Saudi defence ministry and intelligence services, was categorically not accused of being a spy. The charge is not spying.

Many Egyptians work in sensitive workplaces in Saudi Arabia," he said, adding that the charges were "security related" without giving further information. Rizq had said in a statement on Thursday that the foreign ministry was following the case.

Saudi authorities have said that they have been detaining Ashmawi for several months in a security case, but they have not yet told us the nature of the case," he said.

Pak exposed: No Indians involved in blast

Claiming responsibility of Wednesdays blast and the earlier rocket attacks on Dera Ismail Khan, a pro-Taliban group Ansar Wa Mohajir has nailed Pakistans lies that they have arrested an Indian spy for the blasts.

A woman was killed and four persons were injured when a car bomb went off in a high-security residential complex for government officials in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on December 24.

In the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks and growing international pressure on Pakistan to arrest the perpetrators of the carnage, Islamabad had claimed to have arrested an Indian national in connection with yesterdays bomb blast in Lahore, a move however denied by local police officials.

Toofan Wazir, identifying himself as a commander and spokesman of the group, phoned various media houses in Pakistan from North Waziristan to claim responsibility for the two attacks. He has also threatened more attacks against the security forces and the government installations to avenge the two recent US missile strikes in North Waziristan.

He said revenge would be taken from both the Americans and the Pakistan Government. Toofan Wazir, which doesn’t appear to be his real name, claimed his men were Ansar who hosted the Mohajir or refugees who had come from different countries and also from places in Pakistan to find refuge in Waziristan. He said the group was committed to protect the foreigners who were the guests of local tribesmen.

…

What Pak said:

Intelligence agencies late Wednesday arrested an Indian secret agent and two others who were allegedly involved in the blast of GOR area in Lahore on Wednesday morning, Quoting Pakistani officials, the Pakistan media had reported that the one detained was identified as Sutish Anand Sharma a resident of Indian city Calcutta.

While confessing his hand in GOR blast, he also disclosed about his other three associates hiding somewhere in Pakistan, Pakistan police had told its media. Police have recovered three fake national identity cards, three letters and other explosive material and devices from his possession.

Agencies arrested him from GOR Lahore by tracing and tapping his telephone calls, added agency sources. Police sources said that Indian held terrorist was a former employee of Indian High Commission in London and was currently living in Pakistan in disguise of Muneer.

In course of preliminary investigation, the heinous Indian terrorist informed that he along with his other associates were also plotting to strike terrorist attacks on innocent Christians on the eve of Christmas in different cities of Punjab. Now what?

North Korean spy tried to kill herself

26, 2008
By Kim So-hyun
North Korean spy Won Jeong-hwa, who was sentenced to a five-year jail term in October, attempted suicide in prison, detention officials in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, said yesterday.

Won, 34, tried to choke herself by tying a towel around her neck on Tuesday at the Suwon detention cell but was stopped by a prison guard, according to the has shown signs of depression for months.She attended trials of her stepfather Kim Dong-soon.

Kim, also a spy from the North, was indicted for bankrolling Won's espionage activities. South Korean Army captain Hwang was indicted for having passed on confidential information to Won despite knowing her identity.

"Won has been in distress as she worried about her family members in the North and missed her daughter," said an official at the Suwon Prosecutor's Office।"She has no physical health problems।" Won came to the South in 2001, claiming to be Chinese of Korean. She purportedly had affairs with South Korean military officers to gather military-related intelligence for the North.

She is accused of using her trade business as a front to frequently travel to China, where she is believed to have shared military secrets with a North Korean liaison officer.Won was apprehended in July and indicted in August this year. --The Korea Herald, Asia News Network

Iran denies arrest of British nationals on spying charge

TEHRAN, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran has denied recent reports that the country has arrested some British nationals on spying charges, Iran's satellite Press TV reported on Wednesday. "No British national has been charged with espionage in the country," Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i was quoted as saying.

Mohseni-Eje'i, however, did not rule out such measures by the country's intelligence ministry to watch and investigate cases related to suspicious circumstances. According to Press TV, quoting Iran's Labor News Agency (ILNA), Iranian lawmaker Mohammad-Karim Abedi, also a member of Iran's Parliament's Foreign Policy and National Security Commission, said on Saturday that some BBC correspondents had been arrested in Iran "on charges of espionage."

Reportedly, the correspondents under question had used fake identities to book rooms at a hotel. Iran has tightened security and intelligence measures after hanging an Iranian citizen Ali Ashtari in Tehran on Nov. 17 for spying for Israel, to show that it had entered a "serious intelligence war with" its arc-foe.

Later on Nov. 24, the Commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that Iran has discovered an Israeli spy network recently.

Accordingly, an Iranian Intelligence Ministry official warned that Iranians should be on alert "about the serious danger of penetration of the Israeli intelligence services to Iran's internet and telecommunications network."
(news link) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/25/content_10555079.htm

Indian? spy? caused blast in Pakistan?

Law-enforcement agencies in Pakistan claimed on Wednesday night to have arrested a man believed to be an Indian spy and found fake identity cards and other material in his possession. The suspect, identified as Satish Anand Shukla, is believed to have been involved in Wednesday’s bomb blast in the Bahawalpur House here.

Sources said the man was arrested after law-enforcement personnel had intercepted his cellphone calls. They said Shukla had disguised his identity. According to a TV report, Shukla had served in the Indian High Commission in the UK for three years. Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed said he had no information about the man, adding that he might have been arrested by some other law-enforcement agency.

A woman was killed and four persons were injured when a car bomb went off in a high-security residential complex for government officials in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on December 24.
(agencies)

14 squirrels arrested for spying in Iran

///Islamic Republic's intelligence agents allege rodents were carrying advanced Western spy gear///

Dudi Cohen
Iranian intelligence operatives recently detained over a dozen squirrels found within the nation's borders, claiming the rodents were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic.

"In recent weeks, intelligence operatives have arrested 14 squirrels within Iran's borders," state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported. "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services."

Iranian police commander Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam confirmed the report, saying that a number of squirrels had been caught bearing foreign spy gear within Iran's borders. "I heard of this but I have no specific knowledge on the subject," he said. He refused to give further details.


Recently, Iran has increased its efforts in combating espionage by the West. The use of rodents has not been documented in the past.
(source:ynettnews)

No trace of alleged “Indian female spy ” caught by Pakistan

Amid escalating tension between Pakistan and India in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, the security agencies Pakistan has not yet revealed particulars about an Indian woman they had arrested on charges of spying from near Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The security forces in Pakistan had captured the spying suspect from near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on December 12, news agencies had reported quoting officials.

The interior ministry officials had confirmed the arrest to Pakistan media claiming that it was the second Indian spy to be arrested in Pakistan in less than two months. They said the burqa-clad woman, arrested on the basis of intelligence reports, was shifted to Islamabad and was being interrogated. Quoting security agencies, the official had also said there was "strong evidence" of the woman's Indian nationality and that she was an employee of a top Indian intelligence agency.

However, neither Pakistan has revealed their names nor the Indian agencies have not issued any comments regarding the said arrest so far.

Russia unmasked 150 spies

MOSCOW, Dec 18

RUSSIAN counter-intelligence claimed to have unmasked nearly 150 spies in 2008, including a network operating on behalf of ex-Soviet Georgia, said the head of the FSB Federal Security Service.

"Activities of 48 staff officers of foreign intelligence services have been stopped, as well as actions of 101 local agents of foreign special services," Alexander Bortnikov told Russian media. He said six foreign staff officers and three agents had been "caught red-handed", and nine foreigners accused of spying had been expelled.

The FSB, a target of public criticism in 1990s, has seen resurgence under ex-President Vladimir Putin, an ex-KGB spy whose two terms as Kremlin chief ended this year.

Bortnikov said the FSB had uncovered a network of agents of the Georgian special services in Russia. He said a Georgian citizen suspected of being one of the organisers had been arrested. Five Russian citizens, suspected to be members of the ring, had been charged with high treason.

(Agencies).

Understand a few home truths about spies: By Maloy Krishna Dhar (Ex-Indian spy chief)

• Every informer is not a SPY, but every Spy is an informer.

• No government would ever admit charges of carrying out espionage and sabotage activities.

• Spies are, if they are, a group of professionals, who are exposed to usual professional risk, like a soldier at the front and a policeman before a rioting mob. They are trained to get killed and maimed. They do not come back home amidst sounds of cymbals and horns. They return, if they return at all, quietly and live as quietly for which they are trained and paid.

• Espionage is not a salariat (in Urdu), meaning salaried job with encoded service rules. This trade is based on unwritten laws governing their tradecraft training, single or continued compensation package, security instructions, and no lost baggage claim principle.

• The entire trade is outside the purview of media glare and not based on any Act of the country.

• The media have unwritten sets of rules to honour national secrets and to ignore certain facts even if such hypes are likely to increase their TRP.

• The Public are expected to be more patriotic and heroic to the point suffering great personal loss, which nave been exhibited in cases of our soldiers and security personnel martyring themselves in action fields. Millions have perished in several wars, but nations have survived. Individuals and organised societies survive honourably only when the people gain strength to suffer silently. War losses are not matters for street-wailing. Intelligence warfare is another kind of war nations wage through extended diplomatic activities.

From the lowest category of spies or agents to the highest category there exist several intermediary layers. A mere trans-border smuggler used as a “single task” informer or a “deep penetration itinerary spy” is different from a well trained, embedded Long Term Resident Agent (LTRA) or a trained saboteur. Sabotage and subversion activities are unadmitted tools of silent or proxy-warfare. Most nations do and deny it. The ultimate test of success is the desired results and Deniability. No country would own up a lost, caught and punished spy. No country makes a hero out of a spy like Pakistan did to Abdul Kader Khan, the great nuclear bandit and pirate, aka a scientist.

Self-confessed informers like Mohanlal Bhashkar, Ruplal and Kashmir Singh (as claimed by them) are single task border smugglers and itinerants. They work on a specific task and after successful completion; failure or abortion the handling officer has no legal and moral responsibility towards their welfare. One-package-compensation is the law of the game. The person who agrees to do the job does so willingly out of a genuine or generated motivation. Creation of motivation is part of the tradecraft. Getting motivated is part either a part of patriotic feeling or simple greed for easy money.

Their brief is limited and the tasks are specific. Most of these trans-border human assets are not elaborately trained and briefed. As most of these border smugglers and illegal traders are left to device their own security aspects. They move like eels across international borders and straightaway sent to the frying pan when caught. Such assets are “feed and milk” type human agents. Some of them are known as “double agents.” A same talent may work for Indian and Pakistani agencies.

However, well trained, indoctrinated and Tradecraft oriented deep penetration Long Term Resident Agents are akin to classical agents of the type of Philby, Ethel and Julius Rosenburg etc. Such spies are very rare to come by. The agency takes full responsibility of locating, cultivating and if possible retrieving such highly priced agents. The lucky ones manage to trek back. Some are retrieved and most are lost, once detected by the agencies of the target countries. Some are forgotten and some are transported to folklore.

Spies are unsung soldiers and heroes of Statecraft. No country would admit spying in another country. They would deny existence of any agent, once they are caught in action and maintain deathly silence even if the media hype up such incidents. Normally the media has an unwritten understanding of the rules of the game and acts of successful or failed espionage activities do not form part of TRP increase marketing device. Every nation follows this golden rule, except, perhaps India, the infinite free country, where one is free to peep into the forbidden areas of statecraft.

)

Iran arrests ‘spy pigeons’ near N-site

TEHERAN: Security forces in Natanz had arrested two suspected “pigeons” on charges of spying near Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment facility on October 21, 2008.

One of the pigeons was caught near a rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province, sources said, adding that some metal rings and invisible strings were attached to the bird.

“Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings,”. Natanz is home to Iran’s heavily-bunkered underground uranium enrichment plant, which is not far from Kashan.

The activity is the focus of Iran’s five-year standoff with the West, which that fears it aims to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran vehemently denies the charge. Last year, Iran issued a formal protest over the use of espionage by the United States to produce a key intelligence report on the country’s controversial nuclear programme.

Suspected Pakastani spy arrested from Lucknow

December 17
A suspected Pakistan Military Intelligence (PMI) agent was arrested by the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the state police, media claimed. “Abdul Jabbar alias Sikander was arrested late night from the Charbagh locality of the city and the police are interrogating him to extract more information,” Additional Director General of Police (ATS, Crime, Law and Order) Brijlal told reporters in Lucknow.

Jabbar is a native of Meethadhar Kharadhar in Karachi and a passport made on a fake identity which showed him to be belonging to Gujarat has been recovered, officials said.

“We have also recovered maps and prohibited documents of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy from his possession and Jabbar also confessed to passing on this information via mobile and Internet,” police claimed.

“During initial interrogation, Jabbar revealed that besides imparting training to him for nine months in Pakistan, the PMI also promised to take care of his family in Karachi while he would be in India,”. Jabbar was ferried to Kathmandu from where he was trespassed into India via the porous Indo-Nepal border.

December 18
Sleuths of the Military Intelligence wing and the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) started grilling a suspected Pak agent. He was remanded in police custody for a week by a court. The police were unwilling to divulge details of the other “defence-related” documents recovered from him. Police reporters that “the man has not only confessed his Pakistani origin (a resident of Karachi) but also his links with the ISI”.
“Sikander was apparently trained under the Pakistan Military Intelligence and was here on a mission,” they said. He is believed to have arrived in Uttar Pradesh via Nepal well before the Mumbai attack. His arrest followed vital intelligence inputs about sneaking in by a couple of ISI agents through the highly porous India-Nepal border.

Iran arrests on reporters on charges of spying

Sun, 21 Dec 2008

The Islamic Republic has reportedly arrested several journalists (allegedly BBC reporters) for spying in the wake of the latest espionage activities against Iran. In a Saturday interview with a news agency (ILNA) and other news agencies, a member of the Foreign Policy and National Security Commission of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad-Karim Abedi said the spy cell was identified and dismantled before carrying out any operations against the country. Abedi said the reporters first came under suspicion when they used different names to reserve rooms at their hotel accommodation.

The reporters were planning to expand their network of intelligence activities in Iran with the help of the British embassy, Abedi told media.

IRGC commander, Major General Mohammad-Ali Jafari announced on Nov. 24 that Iran's intelligence recently disbanded a Mossad subset that was spying on the country's military organizations.

The spy cell, which was tasked with gathering classified information and taking photographs of pinpointed locations, transmitted sensitive information to their superiors through advanced spy ware and satellite equipments.

This comes as another Israeli spy Ali Ashtari was recently convicted after confessing that Mossad had instructed him to sell bugged internet cables and satellite phones to targeted Iranian officials in an attempt to monitor their communications.

In response to the espionage onslaught, the Aerospace Faculty at Iran's Amir Kabir University of Technology has designed a new generation of "spy drones" for surveillance, reconnaissance and covert missions. (Agencies)

News source (presstv.ir)

Dennis C. Blair to lead CIA

President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair to serve as the nation's next intelligence director but has not concluded his search for someone to lead the CIA, according to government officials familiar with the selection process.


Blair, 61, was at the helm of Pacific Command headquartered at Camp Smith on O'ahu from February 1999 to May 2002, when he retired after 34 years in the Navy. He has a reputation of supporting diplomatic and political efforts instead of military confrontation.

Hawk shot on suspicion of ‘spying for Pak’ by BSF

Red Ring

CAN birds identify national borders? Yes…if the claims of Indian border security forces are anything to go by. The Indian BSF jawans caught a spy-hawk fitted with a transmitter - generally used as a directional finder by hunters - near border town of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on December 6. This was the second time that the border security has caught a hawk on suspicion of spying.

A Pakistan sponsored spy hawk fitted with an antenna and other equipment was caught by BSF personnel at Shahgarh-Balj in this border district of Rajasthan, BSF officials told media adding it was first seen on an electric pole by BSF officials and it later landed on their vehicle in search of probably food and water.

DIG BSF (Rajasthan Frontier) R C Dhyani told media said that 38th Battalion of BSF men deployed at Kheru Wala border outpost spotted the hawk. He said the hawk is fully trained and had flown into the border along with another bird, which was injured with a gunshot. As the injured bird fell near the BSF post, the hawk also sat down after which it was caught. The brown colour bird has been trained by the experts, it has tags attached to its feet, and authorities are now planning to hand them over to a zoo.

During technical inspection officials detected that the bird was fitted with an antenna and there was no camera as suspected earlier. A hawk fitted with transmitter was caught in similar condition in 2006 and 2007 also but was later found to be only a directional finder. Last catch was in March 6, 2000.

Experts however say that these trained birds which cost lakhs of rupees are owned by royal families of Saudi Arabia, who are reportedly present in Pakistan to hunt rare species of birds. The sources said they used the trained hawk to hunt for the rare bird species, like Siberian Crane and others. Trained hawk chases rare species of birds and injures them, after which hunters track them using transmitters and catch them. It also informed that antenna worth Rs 7-8 lakh is installed on the bird. Training costs over Rs 2-3 lakhs thus totalling the cost to approximately Rs 10 lakh.

Dead falcon proves Rann is Arab Sheikhs’hunting ground

D V MAHESHWARI (Indian Express)
Dec 21, 2007 (Bhuj)
The story on rich Arab Sheikhs hunting the endangered Houbara Bustard on the Pakistani side of the Great Rann of Kutch, carried by Newsline last Sunday, stands corroborated. This migratory bird of the Bustard family, found on both sides of Indo-Pak border along the Rann, is globally listed as an endangered species. But Pakistan issues special permits to rich Arab Sheikhs to come on their side of the Rann each winter to take part in an annual hunting promotion, which Islamabad endorses as part of its ‘winter sports’ promotion.

Highly placed sources in the Border Security Force (BSF), which man the Kutch border with Sind province of Pakistan in the Rann, now say they find no traces of the luxurious air-conditioned tents specially pitched on the Pakistani side of the border to facilitate the hunting games.

“The VIP hunters, accompanied by Pakistan Rangers (BSF’s counterpart in Pakistan) move around in their luxurious Toyota cars for hunting these birds for a long time every winter. This is just the beginning of the season, and to our surprise we have not seen tents and Toyotas for the past two to three days. This could be due to the detailed report regarding this hunting that appeared in The Indian Express. We have even reported this matter to our headquarters,” a senior BSF official told this paper on Thursday.

The corroboration also lies in the discovery of a transmitter-fitted falcon in the border district on Tuesday. Koli Jusab Ibrahim, who makes charcoal in the jungle of Gaduli village close to the border found the bird of prey, carrying two metal rings and a radio transmitter on its tail. He handed over the bird to the Lakhapat Police, who ruled it out as a spy bird.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nakhatra, Dr Girish Pandya said the bird must be from some search organisation in the UAE.

Jugal Kishor Tiwari, an ornithologist, said the bird is a female Gyr falcon. “It was alive when caught by the villager, but died later. I had examined it and found no injury of any kind on its body. I could have thrown more light I been allowed to examine the ring. It had a radio transmitter on its tail. Such falcons are used by the rich Arabs for hunting of the Houbara. It is not a spy bird,” he said.

Kishor and other local bird watchers believe that it must have strayed into this side of the border from across Pakistan. But as studies have shown that the falcon is not the type to birds to lose direction easily, the transmitter might be at fault.

The bird decides on its direction on the basis of the Earth’s poles with the help of a magnetic field in its brain. However, when fitted with a scientific device having a magnetic field, the bird gets confused and becomes directionless. This must have happened in this case also, an expert said.

Kuldeep Yadav: Spy crying for help from Pak jail

Kuldeep Kumar Yadav, 41, a law graduate from Gujarat University has cried for help from the Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore. Pakistani police had arrested Kuldeep by accusing him as an Indian spy. It has been 13 years and the Pakistani authority in Lahore jail is still torturing Kuldeep day and night. Kuldeep had written a letter to his advocate in Rajkot M K Paul appealing that he is unable to bear the torture by Pakistani jail authority any more by stating as;

“ ...I cannot describe in this letter about the torture that I have been subjected to.”

Kuldeep has alleged that the government of India has neither taken any step for his release from Lahore nor given any support to his family members. Mayadevi, his 76-year-old mother said that when Kuldeep had gone to New Delhi in 1989, she never received any information about him.

She said: “Kuldeep had gone to Delhi in1989 saying for a job. He did not specify where has he got the job or for whom he is working. Later, we came to know that he is in Pakistani jail when we received a letter from him a few years ago. We are trying hard for his release but everything has gone in vain.

The family had also received a letter signed by second secretary (C&V) B Humpal from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad written on February 1, 2007. Kuldeep Yadav cries for help from Pakistani Jail, forced to live in inhuman condition

The letter was written as; “your son Shri Kuldeep Nanakchand Yadav is detained in Kot Lakhpat Jail of Lahore. He has been allowed consular access and the High Commission has confirmed his national status. We are in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan to secure his early release.

Rajkot based MK Paul, a campaigner for the release of Indian Prisoners of War in Pakistan (PoW), wrote to Kuldeep and received a reply within in a week. Kuldeep has described in the letter about the inhuman condition in which he has been kept for years.

Later, Paul filed a case in Gujarat High Court on the base of the latter written by Kuldeep. The two-judge Bench served notices to the Union of India in this matter, which are returnable on June 25.
Paul said that on March 23, 1994, Pakistani authorities had caught Kuldeep and had kept in detention for three years. Later, a military court awarded him 25 years of imprisonment. Later, the Pakistani authority shifted him to Kot Lakhpat jail in 1996.

Surinder Kumar: Spy feels betrayed after returning India

Yet another spy with a similar story- "Family not taken care off by my unit"

“Now that I have returned home, I find my family shattered. Due to the lack of support from the intelligence agencies his children have been deprived of education. His wife had to work as housemaid to make their both ends meet”. Feeling betrayed, Surinder Kumar, an Indian spy who returned home after serving 15 years in Pakistani Jails told had told media that said he would move court if the intelligence agencies did not come forward to help him and his family.

Suirnder Kumar said he was in the Indian Army from 1970 to 1978. He left the Army after he was lured by intelligence agencies to join them as spy. They assured better pay and facilities for his family in case he was caught in Pakistan. He went to Pakistan five times and stayed there for a period of about five years. However, in 1992 he was caught in Khiara village in Narowal district of Pakistan.

He was kept in military jail for about one year and given third degree torture. Electric shocks deteriorated his health and he was shifted to the Kot Lakhpat jail and awarded 12 years of jail sentence. In jail he was operated seven times for the reasons never explained to him. “Now that I have returned home, I find my family shattered. Due to the lack of support from the intelligence agencies his children have been deprived of education. His wife had to work as housemaid to make their both ends meet”.

Sarbjeet was not the only Indian spy facing death sentence in Pakistan. The Punjab High Court in Pakistan had awarded death sentence to Kirpal Singh, a resident of the college road, Gurdaspur, on charges of spying. Kirpal Singh is at present lodged in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

He disclosed that Kirpal Singh had filed an appeal in the Pakistan Supreme court against his death sentence. However, like Sarabjit he was not getting any support for any Indian or other organisation. He is dejected and is likely to face gallows in case he did not get active help from the human rights groups or the India Government authorities.

Surinder Kumar alleged that the plight of Indians in Pakistan jails was pathetic. Balbir Singh, a resident of Haryana, was hanged to death in 1997. Bihari Lal, a resident of the Sujanpur area of Gurdaspur district, was beaten to death by the authorities of the Kot Lakhpat jail just for moving a compliant that the soap and oil were not being supplied to them. Makkar Singh, a resident of Amritsar, was taken to hospital from jail, but was reported dead later.

The bodies of Indians kept lying in hospitals and were not cremated for long times. I my self cremated a few bodies that had decayed beyond recognition, he said.

Surinder Kumar further alleged that many others had already served the sentence awarded to them by Pakistani courts, but were still not being allowed to return to the country.

A few of his cell mates, including Sahabudin, a resident of the Poonch area in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, Surjeet Singh, a resident of Ferozepore, and Kuldeep Kumar, a resident of Gujarat, had been in Pakistani jails for the past 25 years. They were awarded sentence ranging from 10 to 15 years. However, due to the lack of support from any quarter they had not been set free despite the completion of their sentence.

Mohanlal Bhaskar-Chilling account of captured spy’s fate

Like Kashmir Singh and Kishori Lal Sharma, Mohanlal Bhaskar was circumcised in 1965 and sent as a spy and an espionage agent in Pakistan. After spending 14 years in Jail, Bhaskar penned his experience on ‘spying’ in a book titled ‘An Indian spy in Pakistan’..

In his preface, Khushwant Singh had said, "Not all the wealth of the world would persuade me to undergo what Mohanlal Bhaskar had to go through in the jails of Lahore, Kot Lakhpat, Mianwali and Multan. It is a miracle that after all that he lives to tell his tale, retain his sanity and teach in a school"

Bhaskar was on a mission to find out information about Pakistan’s nuclear bombs. Betrayed by one of his colleagues — a double agent who was also subsequently arrested and had to face his own demons. (a lack of training?)

He was condemned to prison and torture in an alien country where he was to spend 14 years of his life (There might be many more in Pak jail). Perhaps he would not have been allowed to emerge alive. His salvation came when he was exchanged for Pakistani spies held by India.

Bhaskar got initiated into the profession of espionage when, fired with patriotism in 1965, he quoted the following lines in a speech on Bhagat Singh: "We have eaten the grain cultivated with your blood, It has nurtured the seeds of martyrdom in us"

While many audience applauded vociferously, one man questioned his sentiments to which Bhaskar had responded, "If it’s a question of serving my country I will not be found wanting. I’m prepared to serve with my life and soul in whatever capacity you want me" And so silently that not even his family got to know of it, Bhaskar "quietly underwent circumcision and became a Muslim convert. Even my wife was not aware of this momentous fact" (Undergoing a small surgery is mandatory for al secret agents assigned to Pak)

Bhaskar had detailed the torture that Bhaskar and other prisoners had to undergo at the hands of the Pakistani police and army. However, these accounts of inhuman torture are interspersed with descriptions of the many interesting people that Bhaskar came across in the Pakistani jails. People who were sadistic and cruel and people who showed unexpected kindness.

For example he wrote of Havaldar Abdul Rahman Khatak "who even in prison had helped me to keep up my morale his love and affection were like a fountain a desert which sprays cool, life giving water there was no hatred for me in his heart when I think of him my head is bowed in gratitude."

Another fact that Bhaskar brings to light time and again is the shared lineage and heritage of the people of the two warring nations. Raja Gul Anar Khan, who was considered to be "a living terror" traced his history back to Chandravanshi Rajputana while certain others had Sikhs as their forefathers but in turbulent times converted to Islam either by choice or necessity.

There are hair-raising descriptions of torture that were perpetuated upon the prisoners of war and spies in Pakistani prisons. "Torture is torture and it knows no limit. If one is hell bent upon torturing someone one can devise a hundred and one ways of doing so". From beatings and lashings to making the prisoners walk non-stop the whole night to injections of morphine all these accounts and more are there to chill the readers’ heart.

Bhaskar has drawn pen pictures of the many people whom he came across during his years in the Pakistani jails. There are accounts of Subedar Sher Khan, the Pathan who looked like Gregory Peck and who would have Bhaskar beaten up with sticks and chains without any rhyme or reason. Then there is Professor Shehzad Jalandhari, a "romantic soul" who had taken a fancy to the young son of a colonel and whose abusive behavior finally got him 14 years of rigorous imprisonment.

Question.
Why all spies cry of an ignorant attitude by their own government?
Should a spy ensure all aids from government to his family before heading for assignment?

(Bhaskar had published his book in Hindi. t was was translated in English by Jai Rattan. Shrishti. Pages 329 Rs 295)

Kashmir Singh: Another Indian spy who spilled the beans

Kashmir Singh, who languished in various jails in Pakistan for the past 35 years before being released, had said that he was a spy agent of the country. Singh said that the successive governments of the country did nothing for his family. He also said that he performed his the duties assigned to him as a spy, but after his arrest in Pakistan the Indian Governments did not bother to spend a single penny for my family.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal met Singh, who was accompanied by his wife Parmajit Kaur.
Badal had announced a pension of 5000 rupees per month each to Singh and his wife for his ‘outstanding services’ towards the nation. Badal had also also promised to grant a government job to one eligible dependent of Singh.

After his release from the Pakistani jails, Singh had appealed to the Governments of India and Pakistan to release Indian and Pakistani prisoners languishing in various jails in both countries inspite of completing their sentences. Kashmir Singh was convicted of spying and sentenced to death by a military court in Lahore, but the Pakistan government had stayed his execution in the late 1970s and last week President Pervez Musharraf pardoned him that resulted in his release from Pakistan jail. (Agencies)

Two Afgan men killed for 'spying'

December 13, 2008
Afghanistan: Taliban militants killed two Afghan men they accused of spying on behalf of US forces behind missile strikes in northwest Pakistan. Official Sakhi Ur Rehman says authorities found the men's bodies yesterday in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, after being alerted by residents. A letter found nearby alleges the men gave information to the US that aided missile strikes in the militant-plagued region. Rehman says the letter claims a CD containing the pair's alleged confession is forthcoming. The US is suspected in more than 30 missile strikes against militant targets in northwest Pakistan since August. (agencies)

Alleged female Indian spy arrested by Pakistan

December 13, 2008
Islamabad: Amid escalating tension between Pakistan and India in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, officials said yesterday that security forces had captured an Indian female spy near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. An interior ministry official confirmed the arrest and said this was the second Indian spy to be arrested in Pakistan in less than two months.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the burqa-clad woman, who had been arrested after intelligence reports, was shifted to Islamabad and was being interrogated. Quoting security agencies, the official said there was "strong evidence" of the woman's Indian nationality and that she was "an employee of a top Indian intelligence agency."

The official said another spy from an Indian intelligence agency had been arrested near the border in October, though he refused to give the name of the arrested "spies", saying this would be made public after interrogation. He said security had been beefed up along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border following the tension between Pakistan and India.

Pakistani officials said there was "strong evidence" of the woman's Indian nationality and that she was "an employee of a top Indian intelligence agency". (Agency)