Pakistani authorities arrest fisherman working for Indian intelligence agencies

Addressing a press conference alongside Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry in Islamabad, the minister said that Ijaz Mallah was taken into custody by the Indian Coast Guards in September this year, before he was taken to an undisclosed location.

He was later used by Indian intelligence agencies to carry out anti-Pakistan tasks, the information minister said.

The minister further told the media that the fisherman was offered greed that he would be compensated and threatened with up to three years imprisonment if he did not comply.

“He was eventually released by Indian intelligence agencies and sent back to Pakistan with certain tasks,” the minister added.

Tarar also said that the fisherman was instructed by Indian agencies to procure uniforms of the Pakistan Army, Navy, and Rangers, along with local SIM cards and phone bills, for espionage purposes.

The information minister went on to say that Pakistani intelligence agencies monitored his activities and took him into custody. “Mallah was apprehended while returning to India after completing the tasks.”

Authorities also recovered Pakistani SIM cards, matchboxes, lighters, and other items from the fisherman, which were to be handed over to Indian authorities.

Tarar said that Ijaz had confessed to his crimes following his arrest and also his confession video, in which he claimed that Indian agents had threatened him with imprisonment if he refused to cooperate.

Tarar said India is reportedly unsettled by Pakistan’s recent strategic and diplomatic successes, prompting such attempts at sabotage.

He said that India’s recent anti-Pakistan campaign was a result of its diplomatic and military failures, adding that the propaganda against Pakistan was clear evidence of those failures, while Pakistan continued to gain respect and prestige internationally.

Tarar said that following the failure of “Operation Sindoor,” India launched a series of false narratives to tarnish Pakistan’s image. “India is alarmed by Pakistan’s growing prestige on the international stage,” he added.

He said that both India’s propaganda and fabricated claims had been exposed to the world, and that Pakistan had successfully uncovered New Delhi’s conspiracies before the international community.