Mohali (Punjab), May 29 (IANS) Punjab Police Saturday arrested a Pakistani spy from near an Indian Air Force (IAF) station here, an officer said.
The accused, identified as Irfan Ulha, 29, is a native of Lahore in Pakistan, police said. He was arrested from near the IAF station in Mullanpur, neighbouring state capital Chandigarh.
‘From the preliminary investigation it is revealed that Irfan was on a spy mission to India and he was collecting information about airports and IAF stations across the country,’ said G.P.S. Bhullar, district police chief, at a press conference here Saturday evening.
‘We have recovered a pistol, 20 live cartridges, photographs of airports and various maps from his possession,’ he added.
‘We have also recovered a hand-written dairy from him in which he has written various secret codes that we are trying to decode. He was getting help from terrorists of the KJF (Khalistan Jindabad Force) and Germany-based militant Gurmeet Singh Bagga.’
Bhullar said that Irfan had illegally entered India and was staying here using a fake identity.
During interrogation, Irfan told police that he had graduated in the arts and was teaching physics, english and mathematics at a school in Lahore before coming to India.
Senior Punjab Police officials have admitted on several occasions that terrorist outfits are trying to reactive themselves in the state.
This year alone, police have arrested at least seven terrorists belonging to different banned groups. Besides, they have twice recovered explosives near IAF stations in Punjab.
In January, an explosive device was found in a Maruti car near the IAF’s Halwara air base. In the same month, two grenades were discovered near an IAF station near Zirakpur town.
In the same month, a bomb was found outside a liquefied petroleum gas bottling plant in Nabha town in Patiala district.
A car with two kg of explosives was found near a busy railway station this month. The vehicle carried a fake Delhi registration number.
Last month, two policemen and two Pakistan-based militants were killed in a fierce gun battle near the India-Pakistan international border in Gurdaspur district.
