ISLAMABAD: The Information Minister Attaullah Tarar claimed that a fisherman from Pakistan had been detained and coerced by the Indian Coast Guard to carry out espionage-related tasks for India’s intelligence agencies.
In this regard, the press conference, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, Tarar alleged that the fisherman, identified as Ijaz Mallah, was arrested by security forces, and attempting to return to India with specific items linked to an alleged espionage plot.
In this sense, Mallah, a resident of Shah Bandar in Sindh’s Thatta district, was apprehended by the Indian Coast Guard in September while fishing in Pakistani waters.
He was detained at an undisclosed location and pressured to collect military uniforms and other materials for the Indian intelligence agency.
“He was told that he would be paid, and if he refused, he would remain imprisoned for two to three years,” Tarar said.
“He was tasked to procure uniforms of the Pakistan Navy, Army, and Sindh Rangers with specific nametags and fittings as part of a propaganda plan against Pakistan.”
Furthermore, Tarar presented photographs of the uniforms and other items allegedly recovered from Mallah at the time of his arrest. The minister said that Pakistani intelligence agencies had been monitoring the fisherman’s movements after learning of his assignment.
Moreover, the information minister said the investigation indicated that the operation might have been linked to ongoing Indian naval exercises near Gujarat and Kutch.
“This could have been a conspiracy to connect those exercises with some staged incident involving Pakistan,” he said.
The government, Tarar stated, was placing the evidence before the international community to expose what he described as India’s “nefarious designs” and misinformation campaigns against Pakistan.
Mallah confessed to accepting the offer from Indian officials “out of fear of jail and for money.” He claimed he was released after agreeing to bring back military uniforms and other items to India.
Minister Tallal Chaudhry further disclosed that evidence of financial transactions worth Rs95,000 had been found between Indian handlers and the fisherman.
He urged the public to remain cautious and avoid becoming unwitting participants in hostile intelligence operations.
