Gujarat: Man held for helping ISI in collecting information using Indian SIM cards

The Ahmedabad police have arrested a man for allegedly helping Pakistan's spy agency ISI in collecting information about Indian Army officers and soldiers with the help of Indian mobile phone SIM numbers, said an official on Tuesday.

Probe has revealed the accused, Abdul Wahab Pathan, had helped ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) officials in activating the WhatsApp application in Pakistan using SIM cards (computer chips that hold information) of Indian telecom operators for the purpose of collecting information of Army men through calls and messages, said an Ahmedabad Crime Branch release.

Recently, Crime Branch officials learnt someone was contacting retired as well as serving Army officers and soldiers through WhatsApp calls, messages and voice messages, it said.

Probe revealed Pathan, a resident of Kalupur in Ahmedabad, had acquired one of the SIM cards from local resident Abdul Razaq and shared the number with one Shafaqat Jatoi, who used to work as an intelligence officer in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, said the police.

Pathan had activated several other SIM cards and shared the mobile numbers with Jatoi, said the release.

Using those numbers, Pakistan-based ISI operatives used to call Indian Army officers and soldiers and ask them to share their details claiming Indian government entities are collecting such information for their welfare, it said.

The ISI had also made some fake websites of the ''Kendriya Sainik Board'' and the Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare for the purpose of convincing their targets, the police said.

Indian mobile numbers helped the ISI operatives in projecting themselves as genuine, said the release.

Even after Jatoi's transfer to Pakistan, Pathan used to remain in constant touch with him and also provided more SIM numbers and helped the ISI in activating WhatsApp, said the release.

Pathan and Jatoi were booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 120-b (criminal conspiracy), it added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)