Did the suspected Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Kifayatullah Khan alias Master Raja, who was arrested along with a BSF personnel on the charge of spying, want to use the world’s third largest congregation of Muslims in Bhopal to recruit ‘trainee spies’ for Pakistan’s ISI?

If the investigators are to be believed, Khan (44), a resident of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir was on his way to Bhopal to attend ‘Ijtema’ and contact another Pakistan intelligence operative handler to seek information from him regarding fresh recruitment of youth for the espionage racket.

Khan visited Pakistan in 2013. His initial interrogation has revealed that he was assigned by the ISI to cultivate spies in defence and paramilitary forces, to gather secret information and pass it on to the Pak agency. In the process, he motivated his relative, the other accused, a Border Security Force (BSF) head constable Abdul Rashid to join him. Rashid was arrested from Jammu, after Khan was taken into custody.

Rashid, like Khan, also belongs to Rajouri district and was posted with the BSF’s intelligence wing (G branch). Both have been arrested for obtaining secret information related to India’s national security and allegedly sharing it with the ISI.

Besides the Delhi Police crime branch, the Madhya Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) has also joined the interrogation of the accused.
“Khan was asked by the ISI to visit Bhopal Ijtema and gather details about the people attending the religious congregation, and also to lure youth and recruit them for the espionage racket,” a police source said.

Aalmi Tablighi Ijtema (World Preachers’ Congregation) is an annual Islamic congregation held in Bhopal. The three-day congregation includes discussions about faith and peace. Considered a secular platform, Bhopal Ijtema draws lakhs of people from across the world, and people from other religions and sects also participate in the congregation. This year’s Ijtema was held at Eintkhedi in Bhopal between 28 and 30 November.

The Delhi police crime branch team arrested Khan from the Jammu railway station on 26 November, when he had boarded a train for Bhopal.

“Khan is a handler of Pakistani intelligence operatives, and Rashid was one of his chief sources. They were running an espionage racket which was supported by Pakistan’s ISI,” the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav reportedly informed media after the arrests were made. Both were arrested under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Official Secrets Act.

“The crime branch conducted the operation following tip-offs about ongoing anti-national activities sponsored by Pakistan’s ISI, which is suspected to have a network of civilian handlers and security personnel in various parts of the country,” a police source said.

The police have also been trying to track the money trail from Pakistan to India – routed through Middle East, to pay off spies operating in a suspected pan-India network.

“The records obtained from the bank accounts of Khan in Jammu and Rajouri districts reveal that he used to receive around Rs 20,000 per month as fixed pay through fund transfer. Khan has revealed some more names, including those from the armed forces. The investigators are verifying it,” the source claimed.

“During his interrogation, Khan revealed that he was supposed to meet an official in the Pakistan High Commission to procure his visa to visit Pakistan. The identity of the official is yet to be ascertained,” the source added.

Meanwhile, the MP police have intensified surveillance in the state, especially in those pockets which have been the epicentre of SIMI activists, and including army bases and cantonments. In the past, suspected ISI agents were arrested from Bairagarh in Bhopal, Jabalpur and Sagar districts of MP.

Though the Bhopal police are tight-lipped about the investigation, a source said, “The police has been closely monitoring the Malwa region, Khandwa and Ujjain. In the past, these pockets had witnessed considerable SIMI activities. There had been a jail break in Khandwa and a cop was killed. The accused were linked to the Indian Mujahideen.”

The investigators learnt that Khan and Rashid communicated sensitive information to Pakistan through emails and app-based systems, which reduced their chances of getting caught.

“Our ATS officials are already in Delhi to look into the issue and investigation in on,” a senior official of MP police told Firstpost, without divulging any further information.

The ATS is investigating various aspects of Khan’s Bhopal visit.

Khan has told investigators that he had been working as a library assistant at a higher secondary school in Manjakote in Rajouri district. The family members of Khan, however, are not ready to buy the claims made by the police about his status of a “Pakistani spy”.

“He is innocent and he was going to Bhopal to attend Ijtema. He has no connection with ISI or Pakistan. It’s true that he had visited Pakistan in 2013 through a proper visa, but that was to meet his relatives. He works in a government school and the charges levelled against him are false,” a person close to Khan’s family said.