A city sessions court Monday sentenced three persons to life imprisonment after holding them guilty of spying for the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. Saying that they didn't deserve mercy, the court remarked that pro-Pakistan people should leave the country "voluntarily" or "government should find and dispatch them to Pakistan". The court said, "If those indulged in anti-national activities stay in the country, it will suffer a lot."
Additional principal judge Ambalal R Patel found the three accused, Sirajuddin Karmatali Fakir alias Raju, Md Ayub Shaikh alias Sakir and Naushad Maksudali Saiyed, guilty under sections 121 (waging war against the government), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable under 121), 123 (Concealing with intent to facilitate design to wage war) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
In 2012, the trio was booked by Ahmedabad crime branch for sending "secret" military information to an agent of Pakistan's Inter-services Intelligence (ISI). The agent was identified as Taimur and Tahir. The crime branch stated in its investigation that two of the accused - Sirajuddin and Ayub - had gone to Karachi in Pakistan sometime in 2007 to meet their relative.
During the visit, they came in touch with the suspected Pakistani agent Taimur. The charges stated that the duo were trained on how to send information securely in Pakistan. Upon their arrival, they did a reconnaissance of defense installations in Rajasthan, Kutch, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
The convicted created email IDs and shared the password with the Pakistani agents. They would write the secret information in code language and save them as drafts, which will later be accessed by the Pak agents. According to records, the evidence that police found had a white paper sheet on which, "Bhai Mai Thik Hoon... 085 Wale Mamu Ke Bachche Warmer Se Aa Gaye Hain... Hawai Wale Mamu Ke Bachche... 318 Naye Bharti Huye Hain" were scribbled.
Investigation revealed that 'Mamu' was a codeword for military, '085' was the identity of Gandhinagar military camp, while 'Anda' (eggs) meant money. They received money every month or two months ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000. They would receive the money from locations like Dubai. Police stated that this spying went on from 2010 to 2012 until their arrest.
During the trial, the judgement states, "The accused failed to explain their message stating - 'Panch Hazaar Ande Bhijva Dena'. It is not the case that five thousands eggs of a bird were to be brought from Pakistan." The court found that the accused also failed to explain the source of money they received.
"They risked India's unity, integrity, safety and sovereignty through their acts. It appears that their act could have impacted the life of masses. They didn't think of country's safety before conspiring with ISI agents in Pakistan and sending them information.
"The accused didn't think about the security of 140 crore citizens of the country but thought about their own interests and the interests of Pakistan. As a matter of fact, those who are residing in India and doing such spying for Pakistan should voluntarily leave the country and go to Pakistan or the government should find them and send them to Pakistan," the judge stated in the judgement.
"I believe that if those who do anti-national activities while staying in the country are given less punishment, then that is also considered as anti-national activity. In such cases, the society also expects the accused to be punished as per the law. I agree that the interest, sovereignty, integrity and the security of the country are paramount for all the citizens and for the government, keeping in mind the anti-national activity of the accused, they should be punished to the maximum extent prescribed by law," the judgement read.
According to defence lawyers, Sirajuddin has remained in jail since his arrest in 2012, while two others were on bail.
Published 17 July 2023, 10:27 IST