Jammu:
Farooq Gani, a Jammu journalist, has been arrested for allegedly working as an ISI agent. Gani, aged 35, follows the pattern of educated young men with no criminal past being recruited for terrorism. But the twist in Farooq's story is this: the money he was paid for gathering information in India came to him via Spain.
That means a new x-spot on the terror map that India watches. "Spain is a country that is above suspicion. Hence money is being sent via Spain to India so that the government and customs here do not suspect anything," offers Satvir Gupta, former DIG, Jammu & Kashmir Police
Intelligence alerts led the army to Gani ,who ran his news agency from a hotel in old Jammu. Intelligence officials say this was the perfect cover, allowing Gani to freely collect information and pictures on army installations, busy fly-overs and other potential targets of militant attacks. Gani saved the photos and information as drafts on an e-mail ID, which his handlers accessed with a common password. Over two years, he was allegedly paid eight lakhs in small installments.
"If I just write something and leave as a draft that means I am not sending or transmitting it. When I am not sending it, to track it is very difficult," says Surinder Sharma, information technology expert.