Indian Cook Helped ISI Spy On Diplomat In Pak, Gave Critical Intel, Say Police
lucknow, May 24: Investigators on Wednesday arrested a man from Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on suspicion that he had bugged an Indian diplomat's house in Pakistan and provided intel to the country's spy agency ISI while working as a domestic help till last year.
Ramesh Singh was a cook at the residence of a senior officer with the Indian Embassy in Pakistan and exchanged crucial information with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI for money, the police said. He worked at the diplomat's house between 2015 and 2017.
"The house of the officer was bugged. The officer's devices (laptop and phone) were also bugged. It seems the ISI used temporary employees at the embassy involved in cleaning operations to get in touch with Ramesh," Anand Kumar, a senior police officer, said at a briefing in Lucknow on Thursday.
He used to go through the laptop, other electronic devices, diaries and files to pass on information to ISI agents, the police said.
"During his interrogation, we have learnt that ISI also tried to get information from Ramesh about military installations in UP," Mr Kumar added.
According to the police, Ramesh claimed he had agreed to work for the ISI to repay his debts and was paid in dollars. "We have found that Ramesh was under debt from banks and from money lenders. Ramesh says he was paid 1,300 dollars. He was in debt of about 8 to 9 lakh rupees. And he has paid back most of this money. So it seems he got more money too," Mr Kumar said.
Ramesh had got the job at the diplomat's house in Pakistan through his brother who is in the Indian Army. "It seems the brother knew this officer and he requested that Ramesh be employed as a cook," the police officer said.
The police have denied there is any evidence that any officer in the embassy was involved.
Ramesh was arrested in a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad, the Uttarakhand Police and the Directorate of Military Intelligence. A phone has been recovered from him, the police said. The capture of a suspected terrorist from Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad earlier this month led to his arrest.
Courtesy: NDTV
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
