CHANDIGARH: Questioning of a dozen people arrested in Punjab and Haryana on charges of allegedly spying for Pakistan has revealed a new trend of their ISI handlers procuring Indian SIM cards from them to call junior-level police officers for information about Indian troop movement during Operation Sindoor, central intelligence agency sources said.
The handlers reportedly impersonated senior officers from the Indian defence establishment and other agencies. They also used the SIMs to try to honey-trap officers or soldiers and blackmail them with recorded videos of sensitive information. Sources in the central intelligence agencies stated that the interrogation of the arrested individuals revealed a common factor: they all became involved in espionage activities after coming into contact with officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
They reportedly confessed that High Commission staff had asked them several times to procure Indian SIM cards in return for visa facilitation. “ISI handlers have continuously carried out this practice of demanding SIM cards in exchange for visas at the Pakistani High Commission for the past few years,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.
Intelligence sources said the Pakistani modus operandi was to target less-educated individuals with relatives in Pakistan and who sought visas to visit them. Such people were asked to get SIM cards and share OTPs with them to activate the numbers. The SIMs were then reportedly used by Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) sitting across the border.
All conversations with the SIMs took place over encrypted platforms, such as Telegram, Signal, or WhatsApp, so that call history was unavailable for probe agencies to use as evidence.
During questioning, Guzala, one of the accused spies, admitted to meeting Ehsan-ur-Rehman alias Danish at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. She claimed to have become his informant, allegedly sharing details of army activities in exchange for money.
She was arrested by the Punjab Police along with her associate Yameen Mohammad from Malerkotla for allegedly aiding Danish. Yameen, a passport and visa agent, transferred `10,000 to her. The modus operandi is that these individuals are recruited as visa agents and instructed to contact people seeking to travel to Pakistan, facilitating their visas in exchange for payment or providing information.
Another method of recruiting spies was for PIOs to convince people who shifted to Pakistan from India during Partition that they would try to locate their relatives in India.
Pak High Commission a common thread
Sources in the central intelligence agencies stated that the interrogation of the arrested individuals revealed a common factor: they all became involved in espionage activities after coming into contact with officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. The staff asked them to procure Indian SIM cards in exchange for visa facilitation.
Less educated with kin across border targeted
Intelligence sources said the Pakistani modus operandi was to target less-educated individuals with relatives in Pakistan and who sought visas to visit them. Such people were asked to get SIM cards and share OTPs with them to activate the numbers. The SIMs were reportedly used by Pakistani Intelligence Operatives sitting across the border.