‘Tasked with recruiting influencers’: How Jyoti Malhotra Became first catch in ISI agent Danish’s Spy hunt | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: Expelled Pakistan High Commission staffer Ehsan-ur-Rahim, alias Danish, tried to cultivate around two dozen individuals in the capital who had either applied for a visa to Pakistan or were relatives of the applicants, investigative sources revealed.A preliminary probe was initiated by Delhi Police after inputs from the Pakistan desk of the police’s intelligence wing raised red flags, a special branch officer revealed. The cops subsequently examined around 25 individuals but let them off as nothing incriminating was found and it appeared that attempts by high commission staffers to get them on board hadn’t succeeded.Delhi Police’s probe, however, revealed that Danish was not a visa officer as claimed by the high commission but an inspector-rank officer with ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence agency. “He was reporting to a senior ISI officer named Shoaib and was tasked with arranging Indian SIM cards, besides recruiting influencers. Danish’s passport was issued at Islamabad, and he was granted a visa for India on Jan 21, 2022. According to documents, Danish was born in Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province,” disclosed a source.Danish was expelled from India on May 13, following allegations that he helped recruit and manage Indian nationals tasked with gathering sensitive information and promoting pro-Pakistan narratives online. He was in touch with Jyoti Malhotra, the travel vlogger from Haryana who was arrested by that state’s anti-espionage wing last week.The Pakistan High Commission in Delhi has had a history of being linked with espionage activities. According to sources, ISI embeds its agents in the high commission, rotating them among various postings. The questioning of these Pakistani intelligence officials (PIOs) established that ISI regularly inducts army officers back home, trains them in spycraft and sends them to the high commission on fake passports and identities.The PIOs get visa applicants to help them find vulnerable army or paramilitary men in lieu of hassle-free visas. The visa aspirants also help the PIOs get Indian mobile SIM cards, which are then used for contacting prospective agents, said a senior officer.The Delhi Police’s Special Cell and military intelligence busted one such plot in May 2020, in which two officials posing as visa officers turned out to be ISI agents. Abid Hussain and Tahir Khan were identified and subsequently declared persona non grata and expelled from India. This incident prompted a reduction in the Pakistan High Commission’s staff strength from 180 to 90. In 2021, a similar sting operation exposed a Pakistani-origin visa officer at the high commission. He was found to be working for ISI.In 2016, Delhi Police unmasked ISI officer Mehmood Akhtar, who posed as a visa officer at the high commission. While he was let off due to diplomatic immunity, two of his Indian associates were held, exposing their modus operandi. Akhtar was recruited by ISI in 2013 and posted in the high commission in Delhi. Paper related to defence deployment and border deployment were found in his possession at the time of detention. In 2015, five people, including an Air Force officer, were arrested after a spy ring associated with Pakistani intelligence was exposed by Delhi Police and military intelligence.
