Man who sold SIM card to suspected spy in Pathankot arrested

Malerkotla: A 27-year-old mobile shopowner was on Saturday arrested for allegedly selling a SIM card to the suspected spy who was held from Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot, which was stormed by Pakistani militants.

Deepak, the owner of the shop in Ghah Mandi in Malerkotla of Sangrur district, was arrested for selling the SIM card to Irshad on forged documents in December 2014, police said.

The documents submitted were in the name of some other person who had not applied for the SIM card which was sold by Deepak for extra money, they said.

He has been arrested under the relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, a police official said.

Punjab Police had on February 2 arrested Irshad, who was working as a labourer at Mamoon Cantonment area which was stormed by suspected Pakistani militants a month before.

Police had recovered a smart phone from him which was containing pictures of vital installations and sensitive equipment in the cantonment area.

Irshad, a resident of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, was caught making calls to Pakistan which was traced by intelligence agencies.

He was booked under the Official Secrets Act and a case was registered at Shahpur Kandi in Pathankot.

According to the police, Irshad was being handled by a person called Sajjad who was earlier stated to have been arrested by J-K police.

Sajjad used to collect sensitive information from Irshad and then passed on to his Pakistani handlers.

Irshad is currently in police remand till February 10.