Muslim Cleric Arrested For Passing Information About Indian Army To Pakistan

Srinagar: In a spine-chilling development, a Muslim cleric was arrested in Jammu & Kashmir for allegedly passing on sensitive information about Indian Army to Pakistan.

Identified as Abdul Wahid, he was also allegedly assisting a Pakistan-based terror outfit ‘Kashmiri Janbaz Force’.

Local officials got an inkling of information about deployment and movement of security forces being leaked to a terrorist group.

They zeroed in on 22-year-old Wahid, who worked as a teacher in a madrassa and as ‘maulvi’ (cleric) at a mosque in Kishtwar district.

Wahid was then summoned by police for questioning in Kishtwar, and thereafter, taken into custody.

Wahid revealed that in December 2020, he came in contact with Tayyab Farooqi, alias ‘Umar Khatab’, who introduced himself as the ‘Aamir’ (commander) of Kashmiri Janbaz Force (KJF).

He was initially asked to upload photos and content related to the organization on Facebook and WhatsApp, India Today reported. Once he became an active member of Facebook and WhatsApp groups of KJF, he was offered a role as a terrorist.

Wahid communicated with some unknown supporters of KJF, likely to be Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). He was advised to keep his phones clean and change his devices frequently.

He was also asked to motivate people to join KJF and send locations, photos and videos of Indian security forces.

Wahid sent information about possible routes for infiltration into India and also provided KJF them locations of Army camps and training.

Charged under UAPA and CrPC sections, Wahid will soon be produced before a court even as security forces and police investigate other leads.