ISI agent arrested in Jammu; had shared vital information to Pakistani handlers

In a major success, Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday arrested a person from Jammu who was working for Pakistani Intelligence agency ISI.

SSP Jammu Sridhar Patil, IPS, told Republic Media Network that based on a specific input, a team of Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police launched an operation and detained the person involved in an exchange of vital information to handlers of an intelligence agency in Pakistan.

'He was in constant touch with handlers across the border'

“The person has been identified as Pankaj Sharma, a native of Samba district of Jammu. He was working as an operative of Pakistani intelligence agencies and was in constant touch with handlers across the border since last few years,” he said. SSP Jammu further added that during this period, he had sent across photos and videos of vital areas and security installations of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts to his handlers in Pakistan via social media platforms in lieu of monetary gains.

“During questioning, he has confessed his involvement in passing the crucial information of vital installations including sensitive bridges on National Highway and in border areas to his Pakistan handlers,” he added.

Further investigation in the case is going on

In the operation jointly supervised by SSP Jammu Sridhar Patil and SSP SOG Jammu Sandeep Mehta, initial probe indicates some monetary transactions in the two bank accounts of the alleged accused. His bank accounts are being further analyzed for more suspicious transactions. A case under relevant sections of law has been registered against the said accused. Further investigation in the case is going on.

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Earlier in December 2018, Jammu and Kashmir police arrested an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Sehran Sheikh alias Abu Zubair who was planning terror attacks in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. During the investigation, he admitted that he was gathering information about the security establishments of forces deployed in Kishtwar and was passing off the same information to Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM).

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(Image credits: PTI)