Abid Hussain and another spy from Pakistan were asked by India to leave within 24 hours
New Delhi:
One of two Pakistani spies captured on Sunday in Delhi and asked to leave India within 24 hours tried to monitor the movement of Indian trains carrying soldiers and military equipment, people directly briefed said .
Abid Hussain and Tahir Khan, who worked in the visa section of the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi, were arrested on Sunday by the Delhi police special cell for spying on India. The two men worked for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI and used fake IDs to get around, sources said.
Abid Hussain took on several false identities to lure Indian officials working in key organizations and departments, sources said, asking not to be identified.
One of the identities he used was named “Gautam”, who claimed to be the brother of a fictional journalist for easy access to people, sources said, adding that the Pakistani spy’s mission was to manage an “asset” in the Indian railways.
After identifying a possible railway recruit, Abid Hussain approached him and tried to gain his trust by asking him about the train movements for his non-existent journalist brother, who was supposed to be making a story about Indian Railways and for which he was willing to pay some money, the sources said.
Abid Hussain then planned to gather as much information as possible about Indian trains carrying troops and equipment through his newly recruited assets, sources said.
The foreign ministry said on Sunday that the two spies had been “declared persona non grata for engaging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission”.
“The CoC of Pakistan has been requested to ensure that no member of its diplomatic mission engages in hostile activities towards India or behaves in a manner incompatible with its diplomatic status,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
