: The Indian “spies” in the alleged espionage case arrested on Wednesday were paid Rs. 30,000-Rs. 50,000 to collect defence-related information for their Pakistani handlers, investigators said.
“Each time they meet their Pakistani contact, the spies would bring in a thick stack of documents, some of them useful, others not,” said Ravindra Yadav, Joint CP (Crime).
Mehmood Akhtar, the Pakistan High Commission staffer who is accused of being an ISI agent, allegedly asked his contacts in Rajasthan and Gujarat to target men who were struggling for money.
One such “spy”, Maulana Ramzan Khan, was a teacher at a mosque in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district. Also an “Islamic preacher”, Khan served as the caretaker of the mosque as well as taught around 40-50 children.
“He was paid Rs. 2,000 for taking care of the mosque and Rs. 3,000 for his role as a teacher. That made him an easy target,” said a senior police officer.
‘Popular figure’
But what made him a potential “spy” was his public image in the area. “His visitors included many serving and retired personnel from the Army and the BSF,” said the investigator.
Moreover, living close to the Indo-Pak border, he was familiar with the “topography” of the area. About one-and-a-half-years ago, Akhtar allegedly asked him to build his contacts and seek defence-related information, also promising him much better pay for his efforts.
The other accused, Subhash Jangir, was also an “easy prey”. At the time of his alleged induction as a “spy” about a year ago, Jangir was running a grocery shop that was not doing too well.
The Joint CP said Jangir was lured by Khan as they lived in the same area. “Jangir was under heavy debt, and Khan, being aware of his financial condition, saw him as a soft target,” said Mr. Yadav.
But Khan allegedly introduced Jangir as a para-military officer in his bid to extract more money from Akhtar, the officer said.
Investigators said the bank accounts of the accused would be analysed to know whether any Army or BSF personnel had been receiving money from them.
A hunt is also on for many other Indians suspected to be spying for Pakistan.
