Indian authorities arrest Kolkata man for leaking security secrets to Pakistani handlers

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Kolkata resident accused of operating as a Pakistan-backed spy and leaking highly confidential security information to Pakistani Intelligence Officers (PIOs).

The accused, identified as Zafar Riaz alias Rizvi, was taken into custody following an intensive multi-state crackdown on an active anti-India espionage network. Prior to his arrest, Riaz was already under a Look Out Circular (LOC) and was facing active legal proceedings to be declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO).

Deep-rooted cross-border links

According to official statements from the agency, Riaz’s ties to Pakistan are deeply personal and long-standing. He is married to a Pakistani national, and his children hold Pakistani citizenship.

Investigations into the case revealed that Riaz has been travelling frequently between India and Pakistan since 2005. The NIA stated that during one of these visits, he was formally contacted and cultivated by PIOs. In exchange for
leaking state secrets, Riaz was allegedly offered lucrative financial inducements as well as the promise of official Pakistani citizenship.

Crucially, this is not Riaz’s first run-in with law enforcement for treasonous activity; he has a prior conviction in an espionage case under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Official Secrets Act.

The modus operandi

The NIA’s investigation has revealed the sophisticated digital methods allegedly used by the Pakistan-backed espionage network to evade detection. According to investigators, Zafar Riaz provided One-Time Passwords (OTPs) generated from Indian telecom mobile numbers directly to Pakistani Intelligence Officer (PIO) handlers. These OTPs were then used by the handlers to activate Indian WhatsApp accounts remotely from Pakistan, creating covert communication channels that were difficult to trace.

The agency said these rogue WhatsApp accounts were subsequently used to secretly coordinate with operatives on the ground, including co-accused Motiram Jat. Jat, a former Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Assistant Sub-Inspector who was dismissed from service, had earlier been arrested for allegedly extracting and passing sensitive security-related information to the same handlers.

Following his arrest, Riaz has been booked under stringent provisions of Indian law, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Official Secrets Act (OSA), and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

In an official statement, the NIA said it is carrying out extensive investigations to identify other individuals linked to what it described as a deep-rooted espionage racket and to fully uncover the larger terror conspiracy aimed at undermining India’s sovereignty.

The arrest comes amid broader nationwide crackdowns by the agency across multiple states, including West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, as investigators work to dismantle the infrastructure of the cross-border intelligence network.