GILGIT: Security forces arrested two Indian spies from an area along the Line of Control (LoC) and handed them over to the Gilgit-Baltistan police on Friday.

Indian currency, identify cards and other documents have been seized from arrested spies.

Gilgit SSP Raja Mirza Hassan produced the alleged spies before the media at a press conference. He said the duo belonged to India-occupied Kashmir and had been forcibly sent to Pakistan for spying. They were arrested soon after they crossed the LoC in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The detained Indian spies introduced themselves as Noor Mohammad Wani and Feroze Ahmed Lone, residents of Achora village in tehsil Gurez of Bandipur district, India-occupied Kashmir. They said they had to enter Pakistan after being coerced by Indian army officers.

Kashmiri duo confesses to have been used by Indian intelligence officials

They said the Indians had scared and tortured them to force them to work for them against Pakistan.

Lone told media persons that since 2011, he had been earning his livelihood as a labourer after completing graduation. “In 2014, I met Noor Mohammad in Gurez area through a third person named Rauf. Later Rauf arranged our meeting with some Indian intelligence officials,” Lone said.

“The officials convinced us to work for them and told us that we will go to Pakistan by crossing LoC. We were not ready to work for them but they threatened us that if we did not do so, they will kill us and our families,” Lone said.

“If we go to Pakistan, the Indians said, they will financially help our families,” he said. “Then we became ready to work for them. They gave us Rs100,000 and said that we would be paid Rs1 million after completing our mission.”

Lone said Indian intelligence officials told them to cross the LoC on the pretext of looking for their lost cattle. “After gaining confidence of Pakistani security forces, we were asked to monitor their movements secretly and share information through WhatsApp,” he added.

The other suspected Indian spy, Wani, said he belonged to a poor family and appealed to the government of Pakistan and the United Nations to release them.

Published in Dawn, June 13th, 2020