Pakistani held on spying charge

Pakistani national Kamran Akbar, who was held on charges of spying, being taken to a court in New Delhi on Tuesday.

A 39-year-old Pakistani national has been arrested at the New Delhi railway station here on charges of spying. Police claim to have recovered some defence-related documents from him.

Acting on a tip-off, a Delhi Police Crime Branch team arrested Kamran Akbar alias Attar alias Asif Hossain while he was trying to board a train to Kolkata. Some sensitive documents were recovered from him and a case was registered, the police said.

Kamran, a resident of Karachi, first came to India in 1992 on a valid Pakistani passport via train and started staying with his uncle Mohammad Salim in Kolkata. He then went to Goa with his uncle and his acquaintance Asraf Khan. Salim, being a tourist guide, was well-acquainted with the topography of Goa, allegedly committed robberies along with Kamran and Asraf to make easy money.

Kamran along with his two accomplices was arrested and sent to jail. On his release in 1996, he came back to Kolkata to stay with another relative and procured an Indian passport in the name of Asif Hossain. He then went back to Pakistan on a month-long visa in July 1997.

The Military Intelligence agencies in Pakistan came to know about him and persuaded him to work for them for handsome returns. He was recruited in October 2004 and trained in trade craft knowledge about Indian military ranks, codes for communication, surveillance and anti-surveillance measures, Internet, email chatting and was also given some lessons in Hindi, the police said. Kamran was given Delhi as his target area and tasked with cultivating defence personnel as sources.

He illegally entered India in 2007 through the Nepal border and reached Kolkata, the police said. He was allegedly provided a driving licence of Rajasthan and $400 by his handlers.

In Kolkata, he began the business of selling garments and married an Indian woman. He also procured a voter card, PAN card and opened a bank account. He allegedly received funds through hawala (a type of informal banking system) and remittances from abroad were also made to his bank account, the police said.