An official said on Saturday that the three accused were arrested for their alleged involvement in espionage activities linked to Pakistan’s ISI. 

Published on: Aug 15, 2026, 19:17:05 IST

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In a major development, the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) arrested three individuals from Cooch Behar district for their alleged links to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

An official said on Saturday that the three accused were arrested for their alleged involvement in espionage activities linked to Pakistan’s ISI, news agency PTI reported.

Who are the accused?

The arrested individuals have been identified as Rashidul Haque, Nur Nasiruddin Ali, and Shafiqul Islam.

They were apprehended late Friday evening from the Sahebganj area of Dinahata, north Bengal.

Undercover ISI agents, Indian SIM cards, and more – What the investigation reveals

The investigators have revealed that the three accused may have been operating undercover within Indian territory as ISI agents.

They have been accused of smuggling Indian SIM cards for mobile phones to Pakistan via Bangladesh.

According to PTI, an official in the state police STF said that the trio was also allegedly involved in the production of counterfeit currency notes.

Remanded in police custody

The accused were produced in court on Saturday and remanded in police custody for 14 days.

Operative linked to JeM busted

Earlier, Hamim Mondal, a suspected operative linked to the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and the Shahzad Bhatti gang, was nabbed from Bardhaman on July 31.

Arpita Sarkar, Mondal’s associate and girlfriend, was also apprehended from Sahibgunj, Jharkhand. Meanwhile, another associate, Aditya Singh alias Raju, was arrested in Howrah.

Following the arrests, four more people were arrested.

Rana Rauf's arrest

Among the arrested individuals was Pakistani national Rana Rauf, alias Wahab Alam, who was nabbed near the Bangladesh border. He had entered India through Nepal in 2012 and had used forged Indian identity documents to conduct surveillance on several installations across the state.

He had also reportedly kept an eye on sensitive locations in Kolkata, the state capital.

(with inputs from PTI)

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