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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Sambhal violence: Prohibitory orders issued, outsiders barred from entry till Nov 30
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders till November 30 after three men were killed and scores of others, including security and administration personnel, injured in a violence by protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque.
The order has been issued under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), said District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya late on Sunday.
"No outsiders, other social organisations or public representatives will enter the district border without the permission of the competent officer," said the order, which came into force with immediate effect.
Violation of the order will be punishable under Section 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the BNS.
Violence broke out in the district on Sunday as protesters opposing the survey of the Jama Masjid clashed with security personnel. The protesters torched vehicles and pelted the police with stones while the security personnel used tear gas and batons to disperse the mob.
Divisional Commissioner (Moradabad) Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said on Sunday, "Shots were fired by miscreants... the PRO of the superintendent of police suffered a gunshot to the leg, the circle officer was hit by pellets and 15 to 20 security personnel were injured in the violence."
A constable also suffered a serious head injury while the deputy collector fractured his leg.
"Three people, identified as Naeem, Bilal and Nauman, have been killed," Singh said.
Twenty-one people, including two women, have been detained and a probe has been launched, the official had said, adding that those accused in the violence would be booked under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).
District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya said, "The casualty count stands at three. The reason for the deaths of two is clear -- bullet wounds from countrymade pistols. The reason for the death of the third person is not clear but it will be after post-mortem."
Internet services were soon suspended in Sambhal tehsil for 24 hours and the district administration declared a holiday in all schools for Monday.
Tension had been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the Jama Masjid was first surveyed on the court's orders following a petition claiming that a Harihar temple had stood at the site.
Trouble started early on Sunday when a large group of people gathered near the mosque and started shouting slogans as the survey team began its work.
District officials said the survey could not be completed on Tuesday and was planned for Sunday to avoid interference with afternoon prayers.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is a petitioner in the case, had earlier said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "advocate commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
On Sunday, Jain urged the Archaeological Survey of India to take control of the "temple".
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, had earlier claimed the temple that once stood at the site was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
