Cook-turned-spy, Ramesh Singh Kanyal, bugged an Indian diplomat’s house in Pakistani capital Islamabad at the insistene of the ISI, was provided with a Pakistani ‘Q-mobile’ phone by his handlers for communication.
The ATS which picked up Kanyal from his home in Didihat area of Pithoragarh with the help of Uttarakhand Police on Wednesday, are now focussing on data extraction from the instrument for getting vital clues.
The Pakistani phone Q-Mobile (a phone brand in Pakistan with affordable touch screens, QWERTY, Wi-Fi and Android system) was recovered during the raid.
Kanyal’s arrest came after the UP ATS nabbed Faizabad resident Aftab with the help of Military Intelligence of Indian Army for spying earlier this month and he spilled the names of his associates.
“Kanyal worked as a cook at the Islamabad house of an Indian diplomat between 2015-17 and returned to India. During his stay in Islamabad, Kanyal bugged the dilomat’s house and devices (laptop and phone). The ISI probably used temporary employees at the embassy to get access to Ramesh,” a senior UP ATS official said.
Soon after his return to India, he converted dollars into Indian Rupes and paid off huge private debts as well as thaet of banks .It is understood that he was paid well by Pakistan’s ISI for leaking secret inputs and also copies of douments from the diplomat’s house at Islamabad.
Kanyal admitted that even after returning to India, he kept in contact with ISI officials who asked him to spy for them and was also gave him the phone. He revealed that he was asked to collect inputs on some military establishments in Uttar Pradesh and pass it on to the ISI.
The UP ATS is set to seek police remand for Kanyal, for interrogation and extracting information.
“We hope that several things will be known during sustained interrogation, especially what all he was asked to do by the ISI,” ADG (law and Order) Anand Kumar said in lucknow on Thursday.
An FIR in this connection was filed in lucknow on May 20, under Section 121A (waging war against the Government of India) of IPC and under sections 3/4/5/9 of Official Secrets Act, 1923.