National Investigation Agency arrests ISI agent from Gujarat

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday said it arrested a person from Gujarat's Kutch after he was found working as an agent for Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

An NIA spokesperson here said they arrested the accused person Rajakbhai Kumbhar from West Kutch in connection with an investigation in a Defence/ISI case in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The arrest comes four days after the NIA carried out searches at his residence.

According to the NIA spokesperson, Kumbhar was working as a supervisor at the Mundra dockyard when he was found working for the ISI. The case pertains to the arrest of Mohammad Rashid, a resident of Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh.

The NIA had registered a case on April 6 this year under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The spokesperson said during the investigation, it was revealed that accused Rashid was in contact with the Defence/ISI handlers in Pakistan and had visited Pakistan twice.

Rashid had also transmitted photographs of some sensitive and strategically important installations in India and also shared information about the movement of the armed forces with his ISI handlers in Pakistan.

The NIA spokesperson said that the investigation revealed that Kumbhar worked as an ISI agent and transferred an amount of Rs 5,000 through Paytm into the account of one Rizwan which was further handed over to the main accused Rashid. "This amount was remitted to accused Md. Rashid by Rajakbhai Kumbhar on the directions of ISI handlers in lieu of the information supplied by Rashid to the ISI agents," the official said.

The NIA had carried out searches at the house of Kumbhar on August 27 and several incriminating documents were seized.