Pakistan espionage case: Samajwadi Party MP's PA arrested after questioning

MP Chaudhary Munabbar Saleem's PA Farhat was detained by Crime Branch in espionage case on Friday night.

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested the personal assistant of a Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP after questioning in connection with the espionage racket in which a Pakistan High Commission staffer was expelled from the country and three persons were arrested.

MP Chaudhary Munabbar Saleem's PA Farhat was detained by Crime Branch on Friday night.

After his arrest, Saleem removed Farhat from the post.

Talking to news agency ANI, Saleem said that he had appointed Farhat a year back after due parliamentary checks.

He further extended all support during the probe.

Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner of Police (crime), said that Farhat has been sent for medical. He will be later sent to police remand.

Responding to the development, Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma said: “We should be worried as a minister is involved in any such case, but he is ready to coordinate.”

Mehmood Akhtar, a visa officer at the Pakistan High Commission, was arrested on Wednesday. However, he was released hours later due to diplomatic immunity.

In a statement, Akhtar had revealed the name of Farhat. Reports said that Farhat had provided Ministry of External Affairs documents to the Pakistani spy.

The Delhi Police is also trying to nab other members of the racket who, it believes, were in close contact with Pakistan High Commission staffer Mehmood Akhtar who was caught receiving secret documents here on October 26.

Two others, Maulana Ramzan and Subhash Jangir, residents of Nagaur, Rajasthan, were held along with Akhtar. Another accused Sohaib was detained in Jodhpur and brought to Delhi by the police where he was arrested.