KANTIPUR (MAYURBHANJ):Shocked by the arrest of their son on the charges of sharing vital information with Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and working against the Indian Government, parents of Iswar Chandra Behera said he is being framed. Yet to come to terms with Iswar’s arrest, the elderly couple - Nilakantha Behera and Sukamani - said their son might not have known that the person with whom he was sharing information was an ISI agent.
Iswar is the eldest son of Sukamani and Nilakantha, who are residents of Kantipur village in Mayurbhanj district. “He is well-behaved and polite by nature. He cannot do anything that is anti-National,” claimed Nilakantha, a retired school peon.
Iswar has two siblings. While younger brother works as a mason, his elder sister has been married off. The family stays in a double-storey building, which Nilakantha had built from the financial benefits that he got after retirement. Divorced, Iswar was to remarry soon.
A Plus Three pass out from Remuna College, Iswar had joined Integrated Test Range (ITR) with a monthly salary of Rs 8,000 in August 2007 and was working as a contractual videographer in the CCTV section of control tower in ITR.
Following inputs from IB, a special wing of State Police led by Balasore SP Awinash Kumar tracked his movements for several months and caught him on Friday. Police claimed all the calls made to his mobile phone were from Pakistan. Iswar was allegedly sharing information about testing of missiles and vital defence installations located in Chandipur and Wheeler Island. As he was a videographer, he had access to sensitive areas in both the test ranges. Investigations revealed that Iswar was in touch with the ISI agent for more than two years and received Rs 35,000 in six installments from him so far.
Prior to joining ITR, he owned a small photo studio and took up assignments for wedding photography. In fact, on his week off days on Saturday and Sunday, he used to take up wedding photo-shoots.
On Saturday, Iswar was remanded in judicial custody after the SDJM rejected his bail plea. Sukamani has appealed the Government to release her son.
On the other hand, Balasore police have appealed the court for taking Iswar on a 14-day remand. SP Awinash Kumar said the court will meet on Tuesday to hear the remand petition.