Calls to Pak brought Zahid on intel radar

LUCKNOW :Long duration calls to his four relatives in Pakistan and others reportedly landed Bulandshahr resident, Mohd Zahid into the police net.

Zahid, who worked in a paint factory, was held on Friday for allegedly passing on information of Meerut cantonment and Rohtak (Haryana) cantonment to the ISI from his house in Khurja town.

The police claimed to have seized classified documents, maps of cantonment areas, electronic devices and mobile phone from him.

The police said Zahid’s suspicious activities were traced when his calls to cell phone numbers in Pakistan were intercepted by intelligence agencies that zeroed in on him for allegedly passing on crucial information to the ISI.

The police have taken him on three-day police custody remand since Saturday to quiz him about his network. A team of UP Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) is also interrogating him and likely to take over investigation of the case.

“Initial findings revealed that Zahid was in touch with the ISI since 2012 when he first visited his relatives’ place in Karachi (Pakistan). He was allegedly lured into the ISI network through his four relatives who were already working for it. He visited Pakistan twice, the last time being in June 2016,” said a senior police official.

After returning home, Zahid used to make long calls to his relatives and some other mobile numbers, allegedly of his ISI handlers, he said.

He said Zahid was apparently asked to collect information about cantonment areas of Meerut and Rohtak and thereafter he made calls to pass on information to the ISI.

Zahid had visited the Meerut cantonment multiple times in the past and passed on its information to his handler through WhatsApp.

“His frequent calls to Pakistan brought him on security and intelligence agencies’ radar. He was arrested after it was cross-checked that he was sending crucial information to the ISI,” said the officer, adding, “He often used to make video calls to his handlers through WhatsApp and Skype to get specific directions.”

Zahid’s four relatives, reportedly linked to the ISI, had visited his Khurja house in the past. Moreover, initial findings suggested that two Pakistani men were likely to visit his house for some major operation in the coming days, he added.