Khan was arrested by Rajasthan Police CIDs with the help of central agencies on Sunday under the Official Secrets Act. “He is believed to have been in touch with officials from the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. He received remuneration for providing information and supplied information related to the Indian Army in Rajasthan,” the FIR against him alleged.
“Khan runs a shop that sells mobile phone SIM cards, photocopy and had been spying for the Pakistan intelligence agency for a long time,” Rajasthan Police’s Director General for Intelligence, Umesh Mishra, said.
Police said Khan visited Pakistan in 2015, where he came in contact with ISI agents. He was subsequently given training for 15 days in intelligence gathering and an initial sum of Rs 10,000. Later, he started receiving money through hawala operators and came under the scanner of intelligence agencies. Social media accounts were also used by Khan to share information regarding army movements and deployments in Rajasthan, police alleged.
Investigations found that there was a similar operation by Pak agencies in 2019 after Article 370 was read down and internet suspended for more than six months in J&K. “Social media was misused by Pak-based agencies to portray false narratives about Kashmir and provoke the Kashmiri diaspora. We identified several such accounts and wrote to authorities asking them to block content and handles,” an official in the security establishment said.