Eight-member Indian spy network busted

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  • Network involves Raw, IB station chiefs, others
  • Espionage, information gathering about sensitive installations, forces major tasks
  • Govt soon to deport Indian officials found involved in Raw, IB networks

Top federal investigation agencies have unearthed an Indian intelligence network comprising of eight senior officials working in the Indian High Commission (IHC) recruited by Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The officials were found involved in acts of sabotage and espionage and to subvert China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and incite sectarian, religious and nationalist terrorist activities across country and Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

This would be the biggest achievement of the country’s investigators after the capture of Indian naval officer, Kulbhushan Yadav, the RAW’s top agent, who had been arrested from Gwadar and was found involved in activities of sabotage of CPEC projects.

Though there was no official statement from the federal government over the revealing of the Indian espionage and terrorism network in the IHC. However, this scribe believes after some high-level contacts that sooner or later, the government would take a decision to deport all the eight Indian High Commission officials.

Documents available with Pakistan Today suggested that eight officials of the IHC had been identified by law enforcement agencies after surveillance and investigation spanning over the past year.

The station chief of RAW and Indian Intelligence Bureau has been employed at the IHC and tasked to create separate networks for espionage and nurturing of sectarian and terrorist groups to sabotage major CPEC-related projects, documents revealed.

The investigations revealed that some diplomats and officials in IHC had been working to disrupt the CPEC, create chaos, and establish networks of informants and agents to support Indian agenda of destabilising Pakistan.

These activities included subversion and cultivation of agents to carry out terrorist activities in Balochistan, KP and Sindh with special emphasis on Karachi and CPEC related projects. The network was tasked to cultivate agents in Pakistan under the garb of commercial activities.

They were supposed to have access and influence personalities in political and bureaucratic circles to have inside information and undertake varieties of activities to create mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan and hinder any positive developments.

The investigation had revealed the involvement of the network to support and facilitate Indian moles, social circles to shape opinion in Pakistan and discredit state institutions and key personalities. The officials were also involved in the gathering of information and manufacture evidence to support Indian propaganda of labelling Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism.

Commercial Counsellor Rajesh Kumar Agnihotri had been identified as the Islamabad Station Chief of RAW. According to the investigations, Agnihotri was assisted by a network of five more RAW agents in the IHC. Espionage, nurturing and cultivation of relations with the business community of Balochistan and KPK provinces were the main domains of Mr Agnihotri.

He also was involved in managing relations with several sectarian terrorist groups, factions of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and some Baloch and Sindhi nationalist groups. He also managed financiers and facilitators for terrorist activities.

First Secretary Anurag Singh was assigned to create controversies about CPEC and Pak-China Economic cooperation with the help of several linguistic ad ethnic groups. He was also tasked to provoke acts of sabotage in Gilgit-Baltistan on the sectarian and religious basis.

The data suggests that Anurag had developed relations with several sectarian groups in GB to trigger ethnic and sectarian violence.

Amerdeep Singh Bhatti, Attache, was tasked to maintain relations with minorities groups in Pakistan and was tasked to incite and create unrest and desperation among the religious minorities. Mr Bhatti was also assigned to manage propaganda based on promoting human rights violations against Pakistan.

Staff member, Dharmendra Sodhi was specially tasked to focus Sindh and Balochistan provinces. He used to exploit fake medical visas to India for disgruntled elements related to Balochistan and Sindh.

Sodhi used to recommend Baloch and Sindhi people to India in the name of medical treatment where RAW agents used to debrief and train these elements for subversive activities. Sodhi also used to gather information about sensitive installations and security forces deployment in Balochistan and Sindh. He also assigned to maintain contact with the militants of banned outfits and provoke them for subversive and terrorist acts in Balochistan.

Another staff member,Vijay Kumar was the RAW’s point man for monitoring Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He was also tasked to manipulate propaganda in the media suggesting that freedom movement in Indian Occupied Kashmir was not indigenous and rather was being incited from abroad.

Madhavan Nanda Kumar, staff Member was a personal assistant to Raw’s station head Agnihotri. He was assigned to maintain contacts with the local operatives of law in Pakistan.

Secretary Press and Information, Balbir Singh was found to be the Islamabad station chief of Intelligence Bureau (IB) of India. Being secretary press and information IHC, Balbir Singh was assigned to cultivate and promote pro-India journalists in Pakistan.

The documents suggested that the main job of Balbir was to manage and incite propaganda against the state institutions, promotion of Baloch terrorist groups and glorification of sectarian terrorist groups was also his responsibility.

Singh would also use his relations with Pakistani media personnel to collect and gather information about the security installation in Balochistan.

Surjeet Singh, the Indian spy who was imprisoned in Pakistan but was later allowed repatriation to India, was one of the operatives working on the orders of Balbir Singh. Investigators had also found a business card used by Surjeet Singh as Abdul Hafeez, a security officer at a telecom company working in Pakistan.

Jayabalan Senthil, the assistant to Balbir Singh, was tasked to manage and maintain relations with those terrorist groups involved in activities detrimental to Pakistan’s national security.