The Gujarat Police Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Thursday arrested a 53-year-old espionage agent from Tarapur town based on specific input provided by Military Intelligence (MI).
In July this year, officials of Military Intelligence detected a campaign by a Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO), wherein the accused, Labhsankar Maheswari, used a WhatsApp number, urging defence personnel to download and install an application on their Android devices. The accused specifically targeted personnel whose children were studying at different Army schools across the country.
Through the number, the accused lured the personnel to install certain malicious Android applications, mostly under a campaign named ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’.
Maheswari, who posed as an official of the Army Public School, then sent messages to his targets, encouraging them to upload their children’s photos with the national flag, so as to participate in a competition.
Officials of the Military Intelligence traced the location of the said mobile number to Gujarat and sought the assistance of the ATS to nab the accused.
Later, it was learnt that Maheswari facilitated the Pakistani agency with contact numbers belonging to Indian defence personnel.
A First Information Report (FIR) under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was lodged against him in the case.
Following his arrest, investigations were on to ascertain his involvement with the Pakistani intelligence agency. The ATS was also expected to request police custody of the accused.
During interrogations, it was learned that Maheswari, originally a Pakistani Hindu, had come to India in 1999 with his wife.
He stayed at his in-laws’s house in Tarapur and applied for a long-term Indian visa. He was subsequently granted Indian citizenship in 2006.
When Maheswari visited his parents in Pakistan last year, he came in contact with a Pakistani intelligence agency