Pakistan espionage case: Expelled officials to cross Wagha-Attari border

Reuters photo

New Delhi: Two Pakistan High Commission officials caught red-handed trying to source information as part of espionage will be crossing border later today. They were declared persona non grata on Sunday by India for spying in the country.

The two officials of Pakistani High Commission, Abdi Hussain Abid (42) and Tahir Khan (44) were nabbed in a restaurant in Delhi's Karol Bagh while trying to source sensitive document on a specific tip. A trap was laid and they were apprehended. They had come in a diplomatic car of Pakistan mission and visuals showed a broken windshield of the vehicle.

WION had accessed exclusive video of the operation which was carried out on Sunday. In the video, Abid can be seen crossing the road while Tahir keeping an eye from a distance. 

WION was the first channel to break the story on Sunday evening and had also reported how they had roamed around with fake Indian identity. The authorities recovered a fake Aadhar card by the name of Nazir Gotam, resident of Geeta Colony. Other than this, authorities recovered two Apple iPhone and Rs 15,000 in cash.

Explaining how two officials were apprehended by "Indian law enforcement authorities for indulging in espionage activities" the ministry of external affairs in a release said, "the government has declared both these officials persona non grata for indulging in activities incompatible with their status as members of a diplomatic mission and asked them to leave the country within 24 hours."

The Pakistani  Charge de Affaires was issued a demarche in which India strongly protested "with regard to the activities of these officials" and "asked to ensure that no member of its diplomatic mission should indulge in activities inimical to India or behave in a manner incompatible with their diplomatic status."

Last time such an incident happened was in 2016. Back in 2016, India had declared one Pakistani high commission official Mehmood Akhtar as persona non grata after being apprehended by Indian law enforcement authorities while receiving sensitive documents.

Abid Hussain Abid (42 year) and resident of Shekhpura, Punjab, Pakistan and Mohd Tahir (44 yrs) is resident of F-11/6, Islamabad, Pakistan.

According to the Indian government in a statement made in Parliament on December 2016, during his interrogation, Akhtar revealed that he belonged to Baloch Regiment of Pakistan Army and had joined Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) on deputation. He was posted at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi since September 2013.

The Pakistan High Commissioner was summoned by the Foreign Secretary with India registering a strong protest on the activities of Mehmood Akhtar.

That day itself, in an apparent tit-for-tat, Pakistan declared an Assistant Personnel and Welfare Officer in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad Surjeet Singh as persona non-grata.