Top ISI agent nabbed in Kishtwar
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 7: Kishtwar Police, Military Intelligence (MI) and Special Operations Group (SOG) Jammu have unearthed a major Pakistan plot to target vital strategic installations on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Kishtwar district including world’s longest road tunnel known as Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Highway with the arrest of a Pakistani agent in Kishtwar this morning, who had already sent very vital data to his handlers in Pakistan including the agents of Inter-Services Intelligence and commanders of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, operating in Pakistan.
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Police identified the arrested Pakistani agent as Sheran Sheikh alias Abu Zubair son of Ghulam Abbas Sheikh R/o Malipeth, Kishtwar. He has been booked under En-emy Agent Ordinance.
The Pa-kistani ag-ent was directly in touch with top ISI officials and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commanders, who were acknowledging the work done by him including full and lengthy video of strategically significant Chenani-Na-shri tunnel sent by him and information pertaining to other security establishments and seeking more information including hydro-electric projects etc, SSP Kishtwar Rajinder Gupta told the Excelsior.
“The ISI and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen seems to have very large game-plan by plotting to target vital installations including security establishments and were getting all information including videos from Sehran Sheikh. The plot could be to target these installations by sending the militants from South Kashmir and local radicalized youth just like the killing of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar in Kishtwar town last month,” Gupta said.
They added that Military Intelligence and SOG of Jammu and Kishtwar police raided the hideout of Pakistani agents at Malipeth in Kishtwar this morning and arrested him. At the time of arrest, the Pakistan agent tried to destroy his mobile telephone but alert security personnel didn’t allow him to do so and seized his phone, which has given very significant data and information to the investigators.
Police parties in the raid were led by SSP Kishtwar Rajinder Gupta and SP SOG Jammu (Operations) Sandeep Mehta.
Elaborating, sources said, apart from Chenani-Nashri tunnel, the accused had also videographed security installation of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the heart of Kishtwar at Shalamar and certain police locations and forwarded them to top ISI officials. Sources said the hydro-electric power projects in Kishtwar district were next on the list of Sehran and he was planning to video graph them and send the videos and other information to the ISI officials and the militants. However, he was arrested well before he could succeed in his nefarious designs.
Though he wasn’t involved in militancy-related incident so far, police said, he seems to be highly radicalized and had information about happening in Doda belt as in one of the messages he was telling the ISI officials and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commanders that one of the fresh recruits from Doda has been killed in Kashmir within a month of becoming a militant.
Sources said the top ISI officials had showered praises on Sehran, in one of the messages sent on his mobile using WhatsApp, for sending very detailed video of Chenani-Nashri tunnel and wanted him to keep the “good job” by sending more videos of all strategic and security installations, whichever he could video graph.
“It was not immediately clear whether Sheran Sheikh alias Abu Zubair was being paid by Pakistan as no financial transaction has been detected immediately,” sources said, adding that the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commanders had sent Harkat flag to him on WhatsApp with direction to show it during the rallies and paste it on walls of Kishtwar using handmade posters.
“Sheran was in the process of doing so,” sources said, adding that he was fully trapped by the ISI and Harkat militants and was trying to do everything asked for from across the border.
Sources confirmed that the ISI and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had planned to target vital installations along Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and Kishtwar district, besides the surroundings, and were obtaining all possible data through Sheran Sheikh.
After the killing of Parihar brothers, police had reports that several militant outfits had been tasked by Pakistan to create network in Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch districts to revive militancy there with the help of militants from South Kashmir. While militants, who had hatched the plot to kill Parihar brothers, also belonged to South Kashmir and had local backing, Poonch police had recently arrested two South Kashmir militants in Poonch district along with AK rifles and ammunition.
Police and Intelligence agencies have traced the Pakistani mobile telephone numbers through which Sehran Sheikh was in touch with top ISI officials and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen commanders. The numbers were registered in Pakistan and belonged to their local mobile telephone company.
The accused is likely to be sent to the Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) shortly for sustained questioning.
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