Rajasthan man detained on suspicion of spying for Pak, BJP says he was ex-Cong minister's assistant
Jaipur/New Delhi, May 29 (PTI): A Rajasthan government employee was detained in Jaisalmer on suspicion of espionage for Pakistan with the BJP claiming he was an assistant to former Congress minister Shale Mohammad and visited Pakistan several times without informing the government.
Shakur Khan, who works in the district employment office as Assistant Administrative Office, was found to have phone numbers associated with Pakistan stored on his device, an official said.
Intelligence unit sources said that Khan went to Pakistan seven times for meeting his relatives and to visit a religious place since 2011.
It is alleged that Khan shared security related updates from Jaisalmer and he is being interrogated by central intelligence agencies in detail.
The official said Khan was detained on Wednesday night by an intelligence department team which was acting on security-related inputs.
"There were inputs about Shakur Khan that he could be involved in spying for Pakistan. He was on surveillance following inputs and was detained last night," the official said.
While police refrained from saying anything about Khan's political connections, sources and the BJP said he worked as an assistant to Mohammad, a former minister in the Ashok Gehlot-led government.
Mohammad could not be reached for comments.
A joint interrogation was conducted in Jaisalmer following which the team left for Jaipur with Khan.
"In the initial interrogation, he has said that he visited Pakistan to visit a religious place and to meet relatives," the official told PTI, adding that he was being further interrogated.
Khan got recruitment as a fourth class employee in the district employment office in Jodhpur. He was periodically promoted to LDC, UDC and AAO.
He has been working in the district employment office in Jaisalmer since 1999. He has a government accommodation on Barmer road in Jaisalmer.
BJP leaders targeted the Congress over the issue and demanded a thorough probe.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya claimed that Khan used to share confidential information of border areas with Pakistani officials.
"Strong evidence has been found against Shakoor Khan, personal assistant of former Congress minister Saleh Mohammad in Rajasthan, for spying for Pakistan's ISI," he wrote on X. Khan visited Pakistan several times without informing the government, Malviya claimed.
"Pakistan-worship is in the blood of Congress," he charged.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that the Congress is not just corrupt, but it is anti-national to the core.
"Congress ex-minister Shale Mohammad's PA caught spying for Pakistan's ISI - leaked sensitive border intel, visited Pakistan secretly while on govt payroll," Bhandari claimed.
"From shielding terrorists to sheltering traitors - this is the Congress's real face," he charged on X.
There was no immediate reaction from the Congress on the BJP's charge.
Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said a detailed investigation should be done and all those involved should be arrested.
"I have come to know through media that the police have detained the PA of former minister Shale Mohammad on the charge of spying. This is definitely a matter of concern," he told reporters in Udaipur.
"This should be investigated properly and all the sources connected to him should be investigated and those who compromised and played with national security should be punished for their actions," he said.
BJP state president Madan Rathore said whoever is involved should be punished.
"Patriotism is expected from Congress leaders. Nothing is hidden from the PA who is working with the minister. He also has confidential information. If that person is working with the enemies of the country and giving them secret information, this is a matter of concern," he said.
Rathore said that there should be a thorough investigation for this.
"Whoever is involved should be punished. The entire channel should be caught. Just catching one person is not enough. Whoever is involved should be found out and strict action should be taken," he said.
"Everything will become clear from the investigation. If there is any kind of involvement of anyone else then that entire channel will be caught and action will be taken," he added.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
