Kolkata: Barely 72 hours before Independence Day, the state’s Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday arrested a 36-year-old suspected Pakistani national with links to the country’s military and spy agency ISI from near the Bangladesh border in North 24 Parganas. He was allegedly spying on India’s military and railway assets.Rana Rouf Khalid alias Shani alias Waheb Alam, a resident of Faisalabad in Pakistan, who had entered the country through Raxaul on the India-Nepal border, was nabbed a little after midnight from Chongda Bazar in Habra. The arrest comes 12 years after a Pakistani national was caught in Kolkata for similar espionage activities.After questioning Rouf, the STF arrested his associate Mohammad Ejaz from Topsia in Kolkata. A carpenter and sandal-maker, Ejaz has been residing in Topsia with his wife and three children for the past 26 years. “Ejaz frequently visits Nepal, where he met Rouf. The two have known each other for a long time,” an officer said.On Tuesday, the STF received information that Rouf was trying to sneak into Bangladesh via Bongaon. Intelligence input suggested he had contacted a person in Jessore, Bangladesh, to facilitate the border crossing. The STF then laid a trap for him.When questioned, Rouf initially claimed his name was Waheb Alam and produced photocopies of an Aadhaar card and a voter ID bearing the name. However, when confronted with his Pakistani passport details, he admitted his real name was Rana Rouf Khalid. Cops said the voter ID number in Rouf’s possession was among those deleted during Bengal’s SIR exercise.Police claimed both Rouf and Ejaz have links with Pakistan’s ISI. Investigators said Rouf operated out of Kathmandu as a handler for Pakistani intelligence, though he frequently visited India on assignment. He stayed in Topsia whenever he visited India and took up odd jobs. His role was to monitor India’s military and railway infrastructure, gather sensitive information and transmit it to Pakistan. With help from Ejaz, he obtained multiple fake identity documents using the alias Waheb.During interrogation, police identified a few individuals in Bengal who were in touch with Rouf. Officers said their exact roles were being probed.“The STF recovered Rs 350 in cash, two SIM cards and an old notebook with several mobile phone numbers from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Rouf. No mobile phone was found in his possession,” a senior officer said. The accused claimed he had destroyed his mobile phone before travelling from Nepal to Bangladesh, investigators said.Ejaz’s arrest sent shock waves through the Topsia neighbourhood where he lived with his family in a first-floor flat bought almost three decades ago. “He was a very mild-mannered man. He left home early for work and returned by evening. We never saw outsiders at his residence. His wife, too, goes out to work every day. They have two daughters and a son, with the eldest daughter aged around 26. But he visited Nepal often for work. Media reports are saying he was a carpenter but we know him as a sandal-maker,” said Mohd Raj Khan, a local resident.Both Rouf and Ejaz have been remanded in police custody for 14 days, special public prosecutor for STF Prosenjit Rana said.Earlier, on July 30, the STF had arrested a young man named Hamim Mondal from Burdwan over alleged links to the militant group JeM. The STF, however, confirmed there were no links between Hamim and Rouf or Ejaz.
