‘Spy’ plans plight protest at PM door

GAJINDER SINGH
Chandigarh, July 18: A former Indian “spy” to Pakistan, who is jobless and cannot pay his medical bills, has decided to stage a sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s house to highlight the plight of secret agents in the country.

“I will try to sit outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence to demand better conditions for our families. That is the least the government can do for us,” Balbir Singh said over phone from his home at Mahal in Amritsar.

Frail and in his 60s, Balbir had to give up his job as a night watchman last year after a heart ailment confined him to bed for months. His son Jaswant, 18, was forced to drop out of school and do odd jobs to run the home. So was his daughter Jaswinder, 17, who once dreamt of being a software engineer.

Balbir was apparently sent to Peshawar on a spying mission in the late sixties along with Kashmir Singh, who was freed from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in 2008 after prolonged legal proceedings. They were arrested on their way back to Lahore after their mission, Balbir claimed.

“We were arrested on June 19, 1974, on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. While Kashmir got the death sentence, I was sentenced to 10 years and released in 1986 along with some other agents. We were simply pushed into India by the Pakistanis from an area in Abohar,” he said.

Balbir claimed the Indian government had never bothered to care for its former spies or even acknowledge their existence. Although Kashmir Singh was accorded a hero’s welcome in 2008, felicitated by the Punjab government and given money and a plot of land, nothing similar has come Balbir’s way.

“We are only seeking a future for our children,” he said. “We have launched court cases demanding compensation, but have not been able to get any rulings in our favour. Lawyers say any legal endorsement will mean that the government engages in espionage. But there are countries who have accepted their spies.”

Balbir said he was trying to get other former spies to accompany him at the proposed sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s house. “We can even squat in Jantar Mantar to highlight our plight. There are many who are completely bed-ridden, some pull rickshaws to sustain their families.”

Balbir said that after Partition most secret agents had been hired through word of mouth, given language training and sent across the border on specific missions. “We used to mostly cross when people were busy with their prayers. Sometimes we were sent with no specific mission.”

'Indian spy' arrested in Pakistan

A man alleged to be an Indian spy has been arrested in Pakistan, a media report said on Tuesday.
This is the second arrest of an Indian spy in the last 48 hours. As per details, Rabi Gopal, 25, was arrested from Wagha border in the wee hours of Monday. Rangers’ personnel have claimed to recover important documents from his possession.

Earlier, another Indian secret agent named Giyan Chandar was arrested by the authorities from Kala Katai two days ago. It is also learnt that both the arrested were not carrying travel documents including passport.

The Rangers have handed over both the Indian agents to intelligence agencies for further investigation.The Pakistan Rangers on Monday swooped on the suspected spy from Wagha area near Bedian in Punjab province, the Daily Times reported.

Rangers sources said the man had been identified as Rabi Gopal. They added that "sensitive documents" and maps were seized from him.

The sources said Paal had no travel document or passport.(Source- Pakistani news papers)

8 suspected R&AW spies arrested in Pak

Chandigarh, February 10, 2009
Pakistan has arrested eight people on suspicion of spying for Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) on the basis of their mobile phone interception, according to online portal Geo News on Tuesday.

The arrests were made from Abbotabad, Mirpur and Rahimyar Khan. According to the Pakistan intelligence agencies, the suspected spies were traced through mobile phones.

While suspected RAW agents, Muhammad Sharif, Ghulam Mahmood and Mir Abdul Ghafoor were captured from Abbotabad, others namely Fida Hussain, Abdul Saboor and Abdul Sattar were arrested in Rahimyar Khan.

The nationality of the arrested person was not disclosed by the intelligence agencies

Pak claims arrests of 3 RAW spies from Lahore

February 09, 2009
LAHORE (The News): Three spies of Indian intelligence agency RAW have been arrested from Baidyan, an area located in the outskirts of Lahore.

According to sources, Pakistans intelligence agencies after arresting these agents shifted them to an unknown place. Fake ID cards were recovered from the Indian spies in which the names of these agents appear as Muhammad Akmal, Sardar Ayhmed and Muhammad Umer.

Three ID cards, as many spy cameras, passports, photos of important religious figures besides maps of the major Pakistani cities have also recovered from their possession.

RAW officer trapped taking bribe by CBI

(PTI)
Tuesday, February 03, 2009, (New Delhi)
In a first of its kind incident, a senior RAW officer was arrested by CBI for allegedly taking the bribe of Rs one lakh from a Chennai-based manufacturer.

Dr A S Narayan Rao, working as a scientist in the technical division of RAW, was arrested by CBI from a hotel in Karol Bagh last night when he was allegedly taking the amount from the manufacturer, CBI sources said.

Rao had allegedly demanded Rs eight lakh as a bribe for clearing the export licence of the Chennai-based firm. Rs one lakh was the first installment of the bribe amount.

This is possibly for the first time that a serving officer of RAW -- an organisation responsible for gathering external intelligence -- has been arrested by the CBI, sources claimed, adding that searches were conducted and documents pertaining to the Chennai-based company seized.

Pakistan says 'three Indian spies' arrested

29 Jan 2009 (AFP)
LAHORE: Pakistani police said on Thursday three Pakistani men had been arrested on suspicion of spying for India since 2005 and being involved in two bombings in 2006.

The police chief in Lahore, Pervaiz Rathor, said the three Pakistanis were recruited, trained and paid huge sums by India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Pakistani police said the alleged spies were arrested a few days ago and were residents of a village close to the border. "They are Pakistani nationals, they were spying for Indian intelligence," Rathor said.

He named the suspects as Mohammed Fayyaz, Mohammed Ikram -- both Muslims -- and Shahzad Bhatti -- a Christian.

"They were working for RAW and were spying for them since 2005. They were also involved in a bomb blast in Lahore in 2006, in which 16 people were injured and two killed," Rathor said.

They were operating in Pakistan's central Punjab province and are wanted for a second, minor blast in a southern district in 2006, he added.

"They were paid by RAW to carry out acts of violence in Pakistan and also supply information about important personalities in Pakistan. They also took pictures and made videos of government installations," Rathor said.

He accused the suspects of carrying out reconnaissance missions at offices of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat ud-Dawa, a group widely seen as the political wing of the banned LeT.

Rathor said the suspects were petty cross-border smugglers when they were recruited by RAW and trained by Indian intelligence in explosives handling.

One trip into India, carrying pictures and intelligence, would earn them 700,000 rupees (9,000 dollars) from their handlers, he charged.

Tensions have soared between the two countries since terrorists killed 180 people in India's financial capital Mumbai in late November.

India has blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for training, equipping and financing the terrorists.

Pakistan government investigators will submit a preliminary report on the suspects in the Mumbai attacks by the end of January. Pakistan has said India provided some information on January 5 but no evidence and has ruled out handing any suspects to India.

The Indian goverment has said that given the level of sophistication of the attacks, the group must have had support from some "official agencies" in Pakistan -- a charge Islamabad has rejected.

Indian Spy Sarabjit Singh & Kirpal Singh may escape Pakistani gallows

January 3, 2009

Sarabjit Singh, the Indian prisoner on death row in Pakistan on charges of spying - and some 7,000 others might escape the gallows with the law and justice ministry asking the interior ministry to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment.

Law and Justice Minister Farooq H. Naek said Friday his ministry has sent a note on this to the interior ministry, which after considering it will present it to the cabinet for approval. Hopefully the decision will be implemented 'soon', he added.

According to interior ministry records, over 7,000 prisoners in Pakistan have been sentenced to death by different courts. Among them are 35 women and seven foreigners, including two Indians Sarabjit Singh and Kirpal Singh.

Kirpal's case is not as high profile as Sarabjit's. He was arrested in 1991 on charges of fabricating bombs and planning to plant these in Lahore. However, his family members have written several letters to Pakistani authorities saying he crossed the border in a stupor. On Thursday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a television interview that Sarabjit's case can be resolved through dialogue.

'Every issue, including this one, can be resolved through dialogue,' the minister replied when specifically asked about Sarabjit, who was awarded the death penalty by an anti-terrorism court in 1991 with the high court upholding this. The Supreme Court rejected his mercy petition in March 2006.

Former military ruler President Pervez Musharraf rejected his mercy petition in March last year but his execution was deferred in April last year for 21 days and again till further orders.

Sarabjit's family members, human rights organisations and the Indian government have urged the president to grant clemency to Singh, who was convicted for his alleged involvement in the 1990 serial bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan that killed 14 people.

Singh says he is only a poor farmer and victim of a mistaken identity and had strayed into Pakistan from his village located on the border.

Pakistan's leading human rights activist Ansar Burney said the interior ministry orders will apply to all prisoners on death row, irrespective of the nature of their crime.

'All prisoners who have been awarded capital punishment will benefit from this and their sentences will be converted into life imprisonment,' Burney told media. Burney has for long been lobbying for the move and had also presented a report to Musharraf when he was minister for human rights in the caretaker setup under Musharraf from Nov 2007 to March 2008.

'I am really grateful to the government and believe this would be a huge step in recognizing human rights, which is the hallmark of all religions and all societies,' Burney added.

Source: www.daily.pk

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?

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)

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.

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)