This Article is From Oct 27, 2016

ISI Planted Staffer In Pakistan High Commission's Visa Office, Say Police

ISI Planted Staffer In Pakistan High Commission's Visa Office, Say Police

Pak High Commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, expelled for espionage, was recruited by ISI.

New Delhi: Pakistan High Commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, expelled by India for espionage, worked in the Visa division to try and recruit spies, the police said on Thursday.

For 18 months, Akhtar, 35, had received sensitive intel and documents from two men, Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir, who would come from Rajasthan to meet him at designated spots in Delhi.

Their latest meeting was at 10 am on Wednesday, at the Delhi zoo. A police team was waiting for them.
 
Mehmood Akhtar worked in the visa department of Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.

On being confronted, Akhtar fished out an Aadhar card and claimed he was Mehboob Rajput, a resident of Chandni Chowk in old Delhi.

All three were taken to a police station and questioned. "When we escalated our questioning, Akhtar invoked diplomatic immunity," said a police officer. The police then contacted the Ministry of External Affairs, which verified Akhtar's claim with Pakistani diplomats.

Akhtar, say the police, was recruited three years ago by the Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence or ISI and then posted at the Pakistan High Commission a year later.

He used to be a hawaldar in the Pakistani army, with the Baloch regiment.

"We had inputs that they are spying for the ISI. The deployment of troops along the border was being revealed," said police officer Ravindra Yadav.

Akhtar was in the visa department so he could come in contact with applicants and tap them for spying for Pakistan, Mr Yadav said.

He reportedly met Maulana Ramzan through a visa agent in Jodhpur. Then Ramzan recruited Subhash, who badly needed money.

Akhtar paid them up to Rs 50,000 per document, the police suspect.
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