Kolkata, Aug. 17 -- The Special Task Force (STF) of the state police has detained a man from the Topsia area who is suspected to be the second local associate of Pakistani national Wahab Alam alias Rana Rauf.
The suspect, identified as Imran Hosain, was apprehended from a residential flat during a targeted raid. Investigators suspect that Imran is a key facilitator in a Pakistani ISI espionage ring operating across eastern India. According to sources, Imran's specific role within the sleeper cell was to help the network's key operative integrate into mainstream Indian society. Imran allegedly used forged identity documents to help Alam, a Pakistani national from Faisalabad, procure a fraudulent Indian passport.
The detention follows intelligence inputs that emerged last week when STF sleuths initially raided Topsia to arrest Mohammad Izaz, a local shoemaker. Izaz had allegedly hosted Rauf during his multiple covert visits to Kolkata and helped him secure forged Aadhaar and voter cards.
It may be mentioned that Alam was arrested on August 11 near the India-Bangladesh border in Habra, North 24-Parganas. He allegedly crossed into India illegally via the Indo-Nepal border in 2012. Alam visited Kolkata at least six times since 2014, staying in the dense Topsia locality for two to three months at a time. He also managed to enrol as a local voter.
He was allegedly tasked with transmitting strategic intelligence, including photographs, railway routes and details concerning the Indian Army, BSF movements and Navy infrastructure, to his handlers in Pakistan.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.