The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered two separate cases to investigate suspected espionage networks in West Bengal allegedly linked to Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), officials said.
The probes name four individuals from West Bengal, two of them residents of Paschim Medinipur and two from Murshidabad, who allegedly facilitated the misuse of Indian phone numbers to share sensitive information with Pakistan-based handlers. To be sure, the federal anti-terror probe agency is investigating both cases separately, and there is no link between them. In August, an ISI-backed terror network led by wanted narco-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti was unearthed in a coordinated operation in 14 states. Over 200 terror suspects were arrested, and 253 were detained in the operation.
The government, in the last six months, has accelerated its crackdown on PIOs and their Indian contacts. NIA suspects that around 400 SIM cards may have been activated using this method in the last few years.
However, an officer, who asked not to be named, said that the investigators are examining the possibility of a wider network supplying Indian SIM cards, facilitating their OTP-based activation, and possibly passing on sensitive information to the Pakistani handlers. “This possible cross-border misuse of Indian SIM cards by hostile elements is a serious problem,” said the first officer.
Both cases were previously investigated by the West Bengal Special Task Force and have recently been handed over by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) to the NIA to unearth a larger conspiracy.
In the second case, the agency has named Sheikh Juhab and Sheikh Suman, both residents of Murshidabad.
