Spy handler Khan shared sensitive BSF info on Viber and Whatsapp

Kafaitullah Khan, a librarian arrested with a BSF constable on charges of spying for the Pakistan ISI was earlier with the BSF and also served in the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Khan, who police said was directly in touch with Pakistan operatives, was arrested on three previous occasions but let off due to lack of evidence. He was last arrested in 2013 on charges of kidnapping and smuggling of organs by the Poonch police.

In June 2014, he had got a visa to visit his brother Dalwajeer in Gujranwala, Pakistan. He met an ISI operative at a friend’s place during his visit to Gujranwala, police said. Khan, who was earlier the area commander of a small terror group in Kashmir, allegedly offered to exchange sensitive information during the meeting. For this he needed men, with access to such information. Since the past one year, he had been taking information from men like BSF head constable Abdul Rasheed in exchange for money, police said.

“In 1998-99, he was arrested by the J&K police for helping militants openly and acting as the area commander but he was let off for want of evidence. Having served in the BSF and the J&K Police, he knows the functioning well and knew whom to contact for sensitive information,” said a police officer.

Modus operandi

Khan told his interrogators that he received money through Western Union Money Transfer. For very sensitive information he was even paid Rs 2 lakh at times. Normally he was paid around Rs 25,000. He shared the money with Abdul Rasheed, the BSF constable. “He took photos of important documents, maps of field formation of personnel at the J&K base and logs of weapon purchases by defence forces. It was sent through Whatsapp and other chatting platforms. He had kept several phones and prepaid numbers. He even passed on information on Viber through video calls and Snapchats,” said an investigating officer.

Investigators said BSF official Rasheed did not have any ISI contacts but worked only for Khan. Some months ago, he had received a mobile phone from Khan which was to be used in taking pictures and calling him to pass on information. “He photocopied many sensitive documents and took photographs of many maps and passed it to Khan. Khan had several bank accounts in different names which he used to deposit and transfer money,” added the officer. Police are checking Khan’s call detail records from different phones to identify the other moles.