India’s Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a Pakistani national in Habra, West Bengal, near the India-Bangladesh border, on suspicion of being a Pakistani militant and spy, according to investigators.
The arrested man has been identified as Rana Rauf, a resident of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The STF alleges that Rauf had links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and entered West Bengal through the Nepal border around 2012. He allegedly lived in Kolkata using forged Indian identity documents.
Rauf was arrested late Tuesday night in a covert STF operation in Habra. Investigators said he had been living in the Topsia area of Kolkata under the name “Wahab” and worked as a carpenter.
According to the STF, Rauf’s alleged responsibility was to collect information about the Indian Army, Navy and Railways and pass it on to ISI operatives.
Investigators said Rauf had recently planned to flee India and enter Bangladesh. He reportedly travelled to Habra as part of that plan before being arrested.
The STF said investigators recovered his mobile phone and found records of conversations with several Pakistani numbers, along with photographs related to the Indian Army, Navy and Railways.
Police have also arrested another person from Topsia for allegedly helping Rauf obtain forged documents. The identity of the second suspect has not been disclosed.
Preliminary investigations indicate that after entering India, Rauf was allegedly involved in gathering information concerning sensitive military infrastructure and security-related installations, investigators said.
The arrest comes days after the STF detained two people in Bardhaman over allegations that they were plotting to assassinate West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The two suspects were allegedly monitoring the chief minister’s movements.
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