Chandigarh, July 12: The Pakistani spy, Kashif Ali, arrested in Chandigarh has been found to be in possession of a PAN (permanent account number) card issued by the Income Tax Department and is believed to have been paying his taxes to establish his Indian alias, Pawan Kumar.
Police officials also found a valid driving license (issued at Delhi) and a voter’s identity card both also identifying him as “Pawan Kumar” and a tenant resident of Chandigarh’s Sector 44. Investigators believe the “spy” managed to slowly procure proof of his new identity on the basis a forged Punjab School Education board certificate he bought for Rs 12,000.
“Kashif Ali, had even applied for an Indian passport at the Regional Passport Authority at Chandigarh and had been operating two separate accounts in local banks,” said a police officer.
The prisoner is said to have confessed that he entered India via Nepal and lived in Bikaner (Rajasthan) and Delhi before setting up home in Chandigarh where he found the going “surprisingly easy.” Police officials claimed he had also admitted to having received instruction in weaponry and espionage in Pakistan.
Police have detained two young men — Santosh and Rajeev — who were said to be close friends of the spy though it is not clear if they knew his true identity. Two women employees of a local beauty parlour are also being questioned.
Chandigarh police are decidedly red-faced over the fact that a Pakistani national was able to circumvent checks and escape detection for over two-and-a-half years during which he tracked activity around sensitive military installations.