Baloch activist Qadeer Baloch, who also goes by the name of Mama Qadeer, has endorsed India’s narrative about condemned RAW agent Kulbhushan Jadhav, claiming that the spy was kidnapped in Iran and that he was convicted without evidence.
In an interview with Indian news channel CNN-News18, Baloch claimed that an Iranian cleric Mulla Umer Balochi Irani had kidnapped Jadhav and sold him to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for Rs 40-50 million.
Baloch claimed that the source of this information was the activists of ‘Voice for Missing Balochs’ — an organisation of which he is the vice president — who he claimed witnessed the kidnapping.
“Jadhav was not a spy, he never entered Balochistan,” the channel quoted Baloch as saying.
According to Qadeer, Jadhav was kidnapped by the Jaish-ul-Adl group from Gold Smit Border at Sarbaaz in Iran, 52 kilometres from the port city of Chabahar. “Jaish-ul-Adl is on the Pakistan Army’s payroll,” he alleged.
Qadeer also claimed that Jadhav was called to Sarbaaz by a business group, which was working for Jaish-ul-Adl, adding that Mullah Omar Irani was a functionary of the outfit.
The channel said that India’s External Affair Ministry has sought the transcript of Qadeer Baloch’s interview.
Jadhav, a serving officer of the India Navy, was caught in Balochistan in 2016. He confessed to his involvement in several acts of terrorism in Pakistan. He was tried by a military court, which convicted him of spying and committing terrorism and awarded him the death penalty.
The Indian government has taken the matter to the International Court of Justice, which has stayed the execution of Jadhav until his case is decided.