[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 22 Dec: The Itanagar police have arrested two more persons from Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the espionage case that has shocked the whole state.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Aijaz Ahmed Bhat and Bashir Ahmad Ganai.
IGP (Law and Order) Chukhu Apa, addressing the media here on Monday stated that the arrests were made on 18 December, and that the accused have been brought to the state. They are currently in police custody. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to five.
He further said that the accused were collecting sensitive information from different parts of Arunachal Pradesh and sharing it with their Pakistani handlers.
Earlier, on 21 November, the police arrested two individuals – Nazir Ahmad Malik and Sabir Ahmed Mir – both residents of Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir, after receiving credible information about their possible involvement in espionage activities. Later, the police arrested one more person, Shabir Ahmed Khan, from Itanagar who also belongs to Kupwara.
Nazir was first detained from Ganga village, and based on the information he provided, Sabir Ahmed Mir was arrested from Abotani Colony on the same day.
“We were working based on credible information about a spy ring operating out of Arunachal. Under the leadership of Itanagar SP Jummar Basar, the team worked diligently and made these arrests. Two have been arrested from Kupwara and three from different locations in the Itanagar Capital Region,” said Apa.
On the possibility of more arrests, he said that interrogation is ongoing and forensic results are awaited. “We will proceed further based on evidence in the coming days. The arrested individuals were mostly blanket sellers who visited various parts of the state to collect information,” he added.
He also raised serious concern over people failing to conduct police verification of tenants in the state. “I appeal to the people of Arunachal Pradesh to carry out police verification before allowing anyone to stay on your property for safety reasons. Do not let people stay in your house without proper verification,” said Apa.
