Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 13: As network of Pakistani spies widened from Poonch district in Jammu to Pathankot district of Punjab, Punjab Police took custody of two out of three spies arrested from Surankote in Poonch district and took them to Pathankot on transit remand for cross-questioning on possible terror attack at Mamoon Cantonment.
Official sources told the Excelsior that a team of Pathankot police from Punjab has taken custody of two spies arrested by Poonch police after the arrest of Irshad Ahmad from Mamoon Cantonment and took them to Pathankot for interrogation and cross-examination.
The spies, who have been taken to Pathankot, were identified as Sajjat Hussain of Hari Marhot, Surankot and Hafeez Ahmad of Morha Bachai of Surankot in Poonch district. However, Mohammad Akram son of Muneer Hussain of Morha Bachai, who was also arrested along with Sajjat and Hafeez, has been let off on medical grounds for the time being as he was suffering from various ailments.
Sources said Irshad Ahmad, a resident of Surankot, Poonch, who was first to be arrested by the police at Pathankot, where he was conducting recee of Mamoon Cantonment in the guise of optical fibre laying labourer, has made important disclosures during the questioning including that Sajjat Hussain was his `local handler’ to whom he had been sending vital data pertaining to the Cantonment through the Smart Phone, which had been provided to him.
“Punjab and Poonch Police have also detected some foreign transactions into the accounts of Sajjat Hussain and Hafeez Ahmad, which had reportedly been made from Dubai by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) conduits,” sources said, adding that cross-questioning of the trio could lead to some more vital clues and arrests from Poonch district.
Admitting that Punjab Police has taken the custody of Sajjat Hussain and Hafiz Ahmed, sources said, the PP had established contact with their counterparts in Poonch and sought custody of the spies for questioning. Poonch Police agreed.
Pathankot Police had taken the two on transit remand.
The preliminary interrogation of the spies in Pathankot and Surankot has revealed that Irshad Ahmad had been given a smart phone by his associates in Surankote to click photographs of important assets of the Army within Mamoon Cantonment while working as labourer for laying optical fibre cable of a telecom company. Irshad was working as a Pakistani agent under the guise of labourer.
As Intelligence agencies, security forces and police were maintaining high alert after January 2 terror attack at Pathankot IAF base in which seven security personnel were killed, Irshad was captured after being kept under surveillance for more than couple of days during which it was detected that he had clicked important installations of Mamoon Cantonment.
Security agencies grilled Irshad during which he disclosed that he had been forwarding photographs to two persons in Surankote including Shajjat Hussain and Hafeez Ahmad, both residents of Surankot
“It has so far been clear that Irshad had taken photographs of Mamoon Cantonment, a very sensitive and strategic location of Army, and forwarded them to Shajjat and Hafeez, who had, in turn, sent them to their handlers in Pakistan.
According to sources, Shajjat Hussain and Hafeez had received some funds from abroad in their accounts, which was given to them in lieu of spying.
They said the militants might have been plotting major terror attack on Mamoon Cantonment on the lines of Pathankot air base attack, carried out by six militants on January 2, for which they were managing photographs of the important areas. There had been reports of local help to the militants in Pathankot attack, which the National Investigating Agency (NIA) was trying to substantiate.
On letting off Mohammad Akram, police sources said, he hasn’t been acquitted of the charges but was released as he was suffering from various ailments. He has been kept under surveillance and can be detained whenever required provided that he was fit for questioning.
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