Espionage racket: Samajwadi Party MP's aide arrested

Delhi cops with Shoaib (centre), the fourth accused in the espionage case. Pic/AFP. Inset: Farhat Khan. Pic/twitter

Delhi cops with Shoaib (centre), the fourth accused in the espionage case. Pic/AFP. Inset: Farhat Khan. Pic/twitter

New Delhi: Pakistan High Co­m­mission staffer Mehmood Akhtar, expelled by India for spying, had named Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Munavvar Saleem's personal assistant Farhat as one of his "close associates" in the crime, following which Farhat was arrested on Saturday.

This is the fourth arrest in the espionage case. "During Akhtar's questioning, Farhat Khan's name surfaced as one of his close associates in the espionage racket," said a senior police officer.

TV channels also aired a confessional video of Akhtar in which he purportedly named Farhat besides others including Syed Farruq, Khadim Hussain, Shahid Iqbal and Iqbal Cheema, claiming that they were also "staffers". In the video, he also said he used to meet Farhat at Mandi House Metro Station. Reports suggest, Akhtar blew the covers of at least 10 ISI officers.

The three other spies held in the case are Maulana Ramzan, Subhash Jangir and Shoaib.