India trashes fake posts by Pakistani X users targeting RPO Bengaluru

New Delhi: With Islamabad accusing New Delhi of sponsoring terrorism in Balochistan, the head of the Regional Passport Office in Bengaluru has found himself as the latest target of false propaganda by the social media users of Pakistan.

Ajit John Joshua, the Regional Passport Officer in Bengaluru, has been projected as an operative of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analytical Wing, in several posts on X by the social media users of Pakistan. He has been linked to the terrorist attacks in Baluchistan. Some posts mentioned that he was in Iran and met representatives of Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) – a militant organisation fighting for the independence of Balochistan.

Joshua is in fact an officer of the Indian Foreign Service. He joined the service in 2014 and is currently posted as the RPO in Bengaluru.

“RAW Official Ajeet John Josha Identified in Iran. Ajeet John Josha, a senior RAW official who infiltrated as a foreign office employee in 2014, is currently in Iran. He recently met with BLA's Bashir Zeb & Allah Nazar groups to plan terrorist activities along the Pak-Iran border,” posted Alpha Intel, a X user known for running pro-Pakistan and anti-India propaganda on the social media platform.

Islamabad has long accused New Delhi of sponsoring terrorism in Balochistan, particularly of supporting the BLA, including the attacks on the personnel of China engaged in projects in Pakistan and territories illegally occupied by Pakistan.

The BLA recently hijacked a train with about 380 passengers. The stand-off continued till the Pakistan Army rescued the train by killing 33 militants, with several passengers being carried out.

New Delhi dismissed Islamabad’s allegation about India’s role in the hijacking and other terrorist strikes in Pakistan.

Pakistan Strategic Prism, another X user, posted a picture of Ajit John Joshua, describing him as ‘Kulbhushan 2.0’.

“Josha, pretending to be a Foreign Office official, has been working for #RAW since 2014,” posted Daniel Zahoor, also known for running pro-Pakistani and anti-India campaigns on social media.

New Delhi identified the posts propagating the fake news on the social media platform. “Mr. Ajit John Joshua is RPO Bengaluru. The following tweets are fake,” Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, himself, posted on X.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, has been in the custody of the Pakistan Army at least since March 2016. He had been accused and convicted of being involved in espionage and sabotage in Pakistan on behalf of an external intelligence agency of India. A military tribunal had awarded him a death sentence in April 2017.

New Delhi had moved the International Court of Justice, which had on July 17, 2019, concluded that Pakistan had violated Article 36 of the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations 1963 by not granting the High Commission of India in Islamabad consular access to Jadhav. The ICJ had also ruled that the death sentence awarded to the former Indian Navy officer would remain suspended till the review of the conviction, and the Pakistan government would have to provide him a proper forum for appeal against the death sentence awarded to him.