BSF orders Court of Inquiry against trooper involved in espionage case

During interrogation Rasheed was "not yielding" much to the interrogators and some "highly sensitive" photographs and records have been recovered from him.

New Delhi: A Court of Inquiry has been ordered by the BSF into the alleged involvement of one of its personnel in a suspected espionage case involving Pakistan's spy agency ISI.

The border guarding force had kept under surveillance the activities of its Head Constable Abdul Rasheed, posted in the intelligence wing in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, before his arrest yesterday following a tip off from the Delhi Police and central security agencies, official sources said.

"The CoI will run independent of the Delhi Police probe. The BSF is in constant touch with the police and other agencies investigating the case," they said.

They said during interrogation Rasheed was "not yielding" much to the interrogators and some "highly sensitive and prohibited" photographs and records have been recovered from him.

The force, they said, is trying to find out how an operative of its elite 'G' (intelligence wing) indulged into such activities and the extent of damage his alleged activities could have brought upon its operations in the border areas where the Border Security Force is tasked with manning the International Border (IB) with Pakistan.

Police had said Rasheed was a relative of Kafaitullah Khan alias Master Raja, an alleged handler of the Pakistan Intelligence Operative (PIO), running an espionage racket here backed by the spy outfit of Pakistan-- ISI.

Both of them have been booked under provisions of the Official Secrets Act.