Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested a fugitive in a case related to Pakistani espionage.
Mohammed Saqlain, a resident of Jamnagar, Gujarat, was involved in espionage activities on orders from Pakistan.
According to the indictment, Saqlain purchased an Indian SIM card and activated WhatsApp, which was operated by a Pakistani handler.
The number was used to spy on Indian military personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, leaking sensitive information to Pakistani operatives.
In October 2023, Gujarat ATS arrested Rabsankar Maheswari, a 53-year-old intelligence agent from Tarapur (Gujarat), based on specific information provided by military intelligence.
According to sources, Saqlain had provided an activated SIM card to Rabsankar Maheshwari, a former Pakistani national. Rabsankar Maheshwari obtained Indian nationality and was arrested by the ATS in October 2023. ATS was acting on a tip-off from military intelligence about Pakistani intelligence targeting Indian nationals. Military personnel sending spyware on WhatsApp.
The case attracted attention because Maheshwari, a Pakistani national, “became Indian” when he came to Gujarat to treat his wife’s pregnancy, but was later arrested on suspicion of espionage.
Saqlain had been on the run since Maheshwari was arrested in October 2023.
The plot came to light in July last year when military intelligence officials detected nefarious activities by Pakistani intelligence operatives (PIOs).
The operatives used WhatsApp number 90xxxx6792 to compromise the Android mobile devices of Defense Force personnel, whose wards were primarily studying in various Army Public Schools (APS) across the country.
He lured people into installing certain malicious Android applications (‘.apk’ files) in the name of a campaign named ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’, mainly just before Independence Day (last year). I was there.
A WhatsApp user poses as an APS employee and sends a malicious application to such targets, prompting them to install the application and upload a photo of their district with the national flag on the application to participate in a contest. It was sending.
Authorities believe that the relationship between Saqlain and Maheshwari is no coincidence. It was a carefully crafted link in the chain of espionage that threatened national security.
