NEW DELHI: Sabar Khan, the school teacher who was arrested on Saturday from Jammu and Kashmir on the charge of spying for Pakistan’s ISI, spilled the beans about his associate, identified as Fareed, in Siliguri.
He is an army official. Sources said Military Intelligence Unit is suspected to have detained Fareed and one more person related to the espionage case. Fareed was last year transferred to Siliguri from Rajouri. “Sabar Khan has been booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act,” Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Yadav with Delhi Police told The Sunday Standard. He tried to dodge the police team which reached his village to arrest him. He tried to flee and broke his leg, but was chased and nabbed.
The module was headed by suspected ISI operative Kafaitullah Khan—who was arrested on November 26 and is in police custody. Kafaitullah was nabbed while he was heading to Bhopal to attend a religious congregation and to recruit more spies.
Following his arrest, police nabbed two of his associates—serving BSF personnel Abdul Rasheed and a former army hawaldar, Munawwar Ahmad Mir. Mir had served in Kargil in 1999. The police have found that Kafaitullah was in touch with officials at Pakistan High Commission. An ISI source at the High Commission was to help Khan with a visa to Pakistan. Kafaitullah was receiving funds from ISI through accounts in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
With Sabar Khan’s arrest, intelligence agencies claim to have busted a well-knit ISI-sponsored spy network that has managed to infiltrate various Indian government organisations, including defence forces.
A team of eight officers has been sent to Siliguri in West Bengal to locate other accused. An official said Sabar used to get crucial information from his aide about troop movements along the borders during war-like situations between India and Pakistan.