West Bengal: Days after JeM operatives' arrest, Pakistani national detained at Bongaon-Bangladesh border
According to officials, the accused Rana Rauf had spent some time in Nepal before illegally entering India in 2012
West Bengal Police's Special Task Force arrested a suspected Pakistani national, Rana Rauf, near the Bongaon-Bangladesh border, seizing digital devices. Investigators believe Rauf, who allegedly entered India illegally in 2012 after a period in Nepal, was spying for Pakistan's ISI, transmitting sensitive information about Indian military and railway operations. He is also suspected of using forged documents for an Aadhaar card and of attempting to flee to Bangladesh when intercepted, with investigations ongoing into his hawala transactions. This incident follows the recent arrests of Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives involved in tracking political figures and suspected honey-trapping schemes, suggesting a wider network of foreign-backed espionage and disruptive activities.
West Bengal Police's Special Task Force arrested a suspected Pakistani national, Rana Rauf, near the Bongaon-Bangladesh border, seizing digital devices. Investigators believe Rauf, who allegedly entered India illegally in 2012 after a period in Nepal, was spying for Pakistan's ISI, transmitting sensitive information about Indian military and railway operations. He is also suspected of using forged documents for an Aadhaar card and of attempting to flee to Bangladesh when intercepted, with investigations ongoing into his hawala transactions. This incident follows the recent arrests of Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives involved in tracking political figures and suspected honey-trapping schemes, suggesting a wider network of foreign-backed espionage and disruptive activities.
West Bengal Police's Special Task Force arrested a suspected Pakistani national, Rana Rauf, near the Bongaon-Bangladesh border, seizing digital devices. Investigators believe Rauf, who allegedly entered India illegally in 2012 after a period in Nepal, was spying for Pakistan's ISI, transmitting sensitive information about Indian military and railway operations. He is also suspected of using forged documents for an Aadhaar card and of attempting to flee to Bangladesh when intercepted, with investigations ongoing into his hawala transactions. This incident follows the recent arrests of Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives involved in tracking political figures and suspected honey-trapping schemes, suggesting a wider network of foreign-backed espionage and disruptive activities.
The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police has arrested a suspected Pakistani national from the Bongaon-Bangladesh border area and seized digital devices, which are being examined.
According to officials, the accused Rana Rauf had spent some time in Nepal before illegally entering India in 2012. The investigators suspect that he was passing on sensitive information on Indian military and Indian Railway movements to Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI.
Investigators believe the accused hails from Faisalabad in Pakistan and procured an Aadhaar card in the name of Wahab Alam through a person in the Topsia area of Kolkata who has also been arrested and is being interrogated.
Officials said the accused was attempting to flee to Bangladesh when the police intercepted him. They are now trying to ascertain how he procured money through a hawala route and why he was fleeing to Bangladesh.
Rauf's arrest comes days after the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) operative Hamim Mondol and two of his associates. Mondol was arrested in Purba Bardhaman district by the STF of Kolkata Police and Bardhaman police on July 31 after he was found tracking the movements of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and examining security lapses.
His associates Arpita Sarkar and Aditya Singh were arrested from Sahibganj in Jharkhand and Howrah respectively in the following days. Investigators said both Sarkar and Singh were in touch with Pakistani handlers of the Shahzad Bhatti gang, associated with ISI.
While Sarkar is accused of extortion and honey-trapping attempts on minister Umesh Rai and his son, Singh allegedly took photographs of Rai’s family and sent pictures to Sarkar. Mondol and Sarkar were in touch for 3-4 years. The three were college mates. Mondol earlier lived in Howrah in proximity to Umesh Rai. It was in Howrah where Mondol came in touch with Singh. Police are investigating whether the accused got monetary benefits in their bank accounts from Pakistani handlers.