Couple from Delhi held in spy case

The Delhi Police Special Cell’s Northern Range has arrested a young couple from the city, accusing them of working for a Pakistan-based intelligence network.

The police allege Mohammad Sahil, 25, from Sarai Kale Khan, and his wife, Sameera, 21, from Shakarpur, obtained eight Indian SIM cards and sent them to Pakistan via Dubai between 2024 and 2025 in exchange for Rs 30,000. Investigators say the cards were used in Pakistan to activate WhatsApp accounts that appeared to have Indian numbers.

These accounts allow handlers in Pakistan to contact Indian users, join local messaging groups, and collect information while appearing to be in the country. Some reports say the numbers were also used in honey-trap schemes aimed at people with access to defence information.

The SIM card operation was not a single event.

Police claim Sahil was also asked to find and recruit people to check out cantonment areas across different parts of India and collect details about army personnel with court-martial cases pending before tribunals. Investigators say Sameera played a key role in arranging and sending the SIM cards.

Officials said a forensic check of Sahil’s phone found chats with Pakistani contacts, supporting the story of social-media recruitment. Police describe Sahil’s background as ordinary until the alleged foreign contact. He graduated from IGNOU, worked with a lawyer, and became unemployed after leaving that job in June 2025. His father is a car mechanic. Sameera finished her graduation through correspondence and worked at a call centre.

Police say the larger network extends from Delhi to Karachi and Islamabad, using local recruits mostly for logistics rather than gathering top-level intelligence. The Special Cell has not revealed the names of the Pakistani handlers or the exact groups the accounts tried to reach. Sahil’s questioning led to Sameera’s arrest. Both are still in custody as investigators check phones, money trails, and anyone else Sahil may have tried to recruit for reconnaissance.

Delhi Police say these arrests have broken up one logistics cell within a larger suspected network that used social media to make first contact and commercial couriers to move items.