‘R&AW spy’: relatives in Poonch say no contact since 2014

THE NEWS of Mohammad Khalil’s arrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on charges of being a R&AW spy has come as a surprise for his relatives on this side of the border. The police have accused Khalil of coming in contact with the Indian agency while on his visit to family members in Bandi Chechian, along the Line of Control in Poonch district, in November 2014. His relatives said he came with a valid permit on the Poonch-rawalakot bus, and has not visited them since.

They also said that in the two-and-a-half years since, they have had only one conversation — when Khalil called up to inform that he had reached back home safely. “While no one from J&K can call anybody in Pakistan, none from POK has called us either after 2014,” said Najab Din Dar, a distant relative.

Najab and his brother Mehtab Dar said they did not even know of Khalil’s arrest until The Indian Express visited them. The family is busy in a wedding. Najab said that during his 2014 trip, Khalil, a farmer, had stayed with them for a month, and taken the same Poonchrawalakot bus back on December 15.

The Pakistani authorities had announced the arrest of Khalil, along with fellow villagers of Taroti village in Abbaspur in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, days after a Pakistani army court sentenced former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and anti-state activities.

Khalil is alleged to have recruited the other two accused, Imtiaz and Rashid. Pakistani police say that on September 27, the three set off an IED explosion at a police station in Abbaspur, which had damaged the building, although no one was injured. They allegethatkhalilhadconfessedto crossing over to India at least 15 times over the last two years, and his accomplices made at least six such crossovers.

The Dar family had got divided between the two sides of the LOC. Some property owned by Najab and Mehtab’s father, including land, had later become part of POK after Pakistan seized most of Mandhar village. Their sister Begum Jan is married into a family in POK. It was not until 2006, when the Poonchrawalakot bus service started, that the families could meet each other again.

Khalil was among a dozen of their POK relatives who came visiting from time to time between 2012 and 2014, Najab said. According to him, during his visits, Khalil was really appreciative of the “development” and “amity between Hindus and Muslims” on this side of the border.

Najab has been to POK only once, soon after the bus service started. His attempts later for a visa ran into problems.