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Gujarat, India
A Pakistani man was nabbed by India's anti-terrorist squad on Friday (Oct 20) for allegedly spying on Indian defence personnel via WhatsApp, media reports said citing an official. The arrest was made in the Indian state of Gujarat by state police's ATS team.
Reports said that the accused is a native of Pakistan and was granted Indian citizenship in 2005.
The incident came to light after ATS received military intel that an Indian WhatsApp number was operated from Pakistan to spy on defence personnel.
The identified suspect behind the crime is 53-year-old Labhshankar Maheshwari from Tarapur town in Anand district in Gujarat.
The snooping was done to allegedly help Pakistani authorities. The plot involved sending spyware to the WhatsApp of Indian defence personnel in the garb of a fake 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, which sought to encourage every Indian household to sport the national flag.
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When these officials clicked on the spyware, it installed the tracking malware.
The accused has been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 123 (concealing with intent to facilitate a design to wage war against the government) and 121-A (conspiracy to wage war against the government) and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.
What led to the conspiracy?
According to the investigation, Maheshwari conceded to have helped in the conspiracy so that he could fast-track his visa process, along with that of his wife and two other family members.
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They wanted to visit Pakistan to meet relatives, reports said quoting ATS Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Jat.
"In return, the person with contacts in the Pakistan embassy (high commission) asked Maheshwari to start WhatsApp on his mobile phone using a SIM card, which he received from one Saqlain Thaim, a resident of Jamnagar. Maheshwari then shared the OTP to activate WhatsApp with that man," Jat said.
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"The Indian Military Intelligence recently learnt that either the Pakistan Army or Pakistan's intelligence agency had somehow acquired an Indian SIM card, which was being used for spying on Indian defence personnel by sending them malware through WhatsApp. Based on the information, we apprehended Maheshwari from Tarapur in Anand, where he runs a grocery shop," he reportedly added.
(With inputs from agencies)