Shared Pics, Videos Of Jhansi Cantt With Pak Handlers
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested a man in Lucknow for alleged links to the Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and passing on vital information across the border.
The accused, Mohd Raees (26), earlier worked as a food delivery boy in Mumbai and later took up a veneer polishing job in a hotel where he met a man who subsequently brainwashed him. He returned to his native place in Gonda a couple of months ago.
Additional director general of police, ATS, Naveen Arora, said: “On the basis of surveillance and tip-off by informers, we found that the activities of Raees were suspicious. We summoned him to ATS headquarters in Lucknow where he was arrested after preliminary investigation.”
“On checking the mobile phone of Raees, we found that Raees had passed on photographs and videos of Babina cantonment in Jhansi to his handlers in Pakistan. Raees received Rs 15,000 each on two occasions. An ATS team has been dispatched to Maharashtra to trace the man who connected Raees to his handlers in Pakistan,” said ADG Arora.
“Raees disclosed that he went to Mumbai five years ago where he worked as a food delivery boy. Later, he got the job of veneer polishing in a seven-star hotel in Mumbai where he met a man, Armaan, who brainwashed him,” he said.
An officer privy to the investigation said, “Raees told Armaan that he wanted to get a job in Saudi Arabia. Armaan gave Raees a number and told him that the man could arrange a job for him in Dubai.”
He said that Raees got a WhatsApp call from Pakistan in 2022 where the caller informed him that a man named Hussain, would call him and explain his work to him.
“Hussain called Raees and told him that he was a spy from Pakistan and would give him a handsome amount if he helped him,” the officer said.
“Hussain directed Raees to send photographs of vital military installations and information related to them. Raees involved his friend Salman and others at the behest of a former ISI agent,” he said.
During interrogation Raees disclosed that he was asked to create a WhatsApp business account on a fake Bangladeshi mobile number. The Pakistan-based handlers shared an OTP with him for the purpose.
ATS officials said that they would share information with intelligence agencies and had informed the directorate of military intelligence about the development.
