Colonel Habib Zahir for Kulbhushan Yadav: RAW's game plan unleashed
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Pakistan Army former Colonel Habib Zahir, who had gone missing near India Nepal border few days ago is in custody of Indian Intelligence Agencies as quoted by the Indian media citing the security sources.
As per the source reports the trap had been laid by the Indian intelligence agencies to arrest former Pakistan Army Colonel who had reportedly been associated with Pakistan Intelligence Agency ISI and worked on Kulbhushan Yadav case in Pakistan.
Indian agencies game plan to arrest Pakistan Army former Colonel is to swap the Indian Commander Kulbhushan Yadav with Colonel Habib Zahir.
The Indian Express, quoting its sources in the security establishment, said in a report Wednesday that Indian agencies had been on Zahir’s trail for long. Last seen in Lumbini, Zahir was in the team that nabbed Indian Naval Commander Kulbhushan Yadav in March 2016 on espionage charges, it added.
Jadhav, in pursuit of targets set by his RAW handlers, was arrested last year, when he attempted to cross over into the country from the Saravan border in Iran. He was sentenced to death by the FGCM on April 10, 2017.
According to the latest report, the Pakistan military court’s decision to award the death penalty to Jadhav was tied to the disappearance of Zahir.
“Zahir was at the Indo-Nepal border last week. He was in the team that had trailed Jadhav. There is definitely a connection between the two cases,” an Indian officer said.
“No sooner did the Pakistani authorities learn of Zahir’s disappearance, Jadhav was pronounced guilty of being a spy. The purpose is clear. They didn’t want any Indian agency to go public,” the officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
“Zahir retired from the Pakistan Army on in 2014 but was said to have been engaged thereafter by the ISI for its covert operations. In 2015, he picked up conversations between Jadhav and his family members and started tracking him.”
“Jadhav used an Indian passport issued in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel to carry out his dhow business in Iran. Pakistani agencies heard him speaking to his family members in Marathi. Zahir started trailing Jadhav.
A trap was laid and Jadhav was apprehended in March 2016.”
The newspaper was also informed by its sources that Zahir was lured to Nepal with the promise of a “big catch”.
The man who turned in Zahir connected with him through a UK phone number to pass “information on a mole”. He met Zahir a couple of times in Oman.
“Zahir arrived in Oman on April 2 and reached Kathmandu the next day. On his arrival in Nepal, he was handed over a SIM card at Bhairawa.
Zahir was told that this was to facilitate his communication with a point person. From there, he was made to travel to Lumbini near the border,” the officer said.