Author: Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: July 14, 2006
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/2006/Jul/14/181_1743834,000900010009.htm
Abdul Sami was a Pakistani criminal trained
in Karachi. He sneaked into India and lived in Madhya Pradesh like a local
and spying on military establishments. Authorities say Madhya Pradesh is a
haven for Pakistani spies.
Security and intelligence agencies have arrested
more than one such Pakistani in Madhya Pradesh, and they say there is very
much a pattern.
"Yes, Madhya Pradesh has become a safe
haven for notorious criminals and terrorists due to lack of coordination among
the police forces of different states," a Special Branch police officer
said.
Abdul Sami was living in the Gandhi Nagar
area of Bhopal when he was arrested. He had a driving licence, a ration card,
a job as data entry operator at a foreign bank and his name was enrolled as
an Indian voter - all that is needed to prove one's nationality.
But he proved to be a Pakistani national,
spying for the notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Security officers say Sami's arrest underlines
the deep penetration role played by Pakistani moles in India. It shows how
easy it is to obtain Indian official documents -- for a price.
"ISI zeroed in on Sami, wanted for murder
in Pakistan, promising to settle him in India if he agreed to do its bidding.
It was an offer Abdul couldn't resist," a senior officer said. "Trained
from May 2003 at a Karachi safe house, Sami was launched in India through
Dhaka."
Within days Abdul settled down. He found an
elderly man, Abdul Salam, and for a handsome amount convinced him to adopt
him as his son. Within a month he had the ration card and driving licence,
issued by the regional transport office here.
"ISI gave me computer lessons besides
teaching me the tricks of the trade," Sami told his interrogators.
Sami was to get married to a local girl May
25 but was arrested three days earlier while sending secret information about
the Indian Army to Pakistan via e-mail from an Internet cafe.
"Sami is not an exception," an intelligence
official said.
Three days after he was arrested, police in
Jabalpur town caught another Pakistani, Ejad-ul-Hassan alias Imran. He too
was a Pakistan spy launched from Bangladesh.
The police and the military intelligence raided
a photocopy centre in the cantonment area in Jabalpur and recovered several
classified documents and maps, related to army training and an ordnance factory.
Nearly 20 "secret books" were also
seized.
Fareed Ahmad, arrested in April 2002, was
an assistant research officer at an atomic research institute in Islamabad
and had lived in Bhopal for five years. He came to Bhopal in 1991 on a 90-day
visa and then on a 45-day visa six years later but stayed on.
During his illegal stay, Fareed, then 46,
worked as a Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) office secretary and
took part in its national convention in Delhi. He was also from Karachi.
The police had another shock when it came
to know of a retired soldier of Katni district in Madhya Pradesh who recruited
spies to work for ISI.
This ex-soldier confessed having visited Dhaka
several times, with help from one Abdul Qasim, to obtain special training
in spying.
Four others, including two each from Katni
and Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, were then arrested. Qasim, who operated under
the code name `Aman', was posted at the Pakistani embassy in Dhaka.
Another ISI agent, Aquib, who was arrested
in New Delhi, had also stayed in Bhopal and Indore on several occasions.
"I was given the task of making contacts
in this region besides establishing a headquarters as well," Aquib told
Indian officials.
Aquib lived for several months at Shamla Hills,
an area where the Madhya Pradesh chief minister resides.
"There are remote chances of a Mumbai
like carnage in Madhya Pradesh because here they (spies and terrorists) get
shelter," an Intelligence Bureau officer said. "The state has become
an abode of such people, known as sleeper cells."
Police sources complain about lack of coordination
among the police forces of different states.
"Information about criminals and terrorists
are not shared promptly by other states," the Special Branch officer
said, adding this had been brought to the notice of the director general of
police.
