Man arrested for helping suspected Pakistani spy
The city police on Thursday arrested two hawala operators Javed Naviwala, 31, and Altaf Qureshi, 33, a day after the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) arrested Aftab Ali from Faizabad, an alleged Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-services Intelligence) agent, on Wednesday.
Naviwala and Qureshi were booked under Official Secrets Act for spying, communicating with foreign agent and using codes or passwords while sharing information. Both were produced in court and remanded police custody till May 7.
A source in the ATS said that Javed completed his graduation from Sydenham College a few years ago and got into the hawala business in 2009. He is a resident of Agripada in south Mumbai. The source added that Naviwala and Qureshi came from Dhoraji Wala village in Rajkot, Gujarat. Ureshi used to work for Naviwala, the source said.
During interrogation, Naviwala said that many of his relatives and people from his village live in Karachi and that he used to do business with them. He added that he got a call from Pakistan saying ‘Dava-paani ke liye paise bhej do (send some pocket money)’ to the alleged ISI agent Ali. Accordingly, Qureshi transferred Rs15,000 to Ali’s account, said the ATS official.
The police recovered his mobile phone, a diary and Rs71 lakh in cash from their residence. They have been checking the his call records to find out more about the two men’s con tacts in Pakistan, added the offi cial.
The Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested Ali after intelligence inputs warned of a possible ter ror attack in state by ISI men. He has been to Pakistan and the police believe that the ISI trained him there.
During investigation, the ATS checked Ali’s bank account and found that the moneywas transferred by one Altaf Qure shi from Mumbai. Soon an ATS team came to Mumbai and with the Mumbai police, nabbed Qureshi from his residence in Pydhonie.
Naviwala was arrested after Qureshi said that he works with Naviwala and the money was transferred on his orders.