Gujarat ATS Arrests Suspect From Dwarka Allegedly Spying For Pakistan

Dwarka: The Gujarat Police Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested a suspect from Dwarka, a coastal town in Gujarat, who was working as a welder and was allegedly spying for Pakistan . Dipesh Gohel, who worked as a welder-cum-labourer at Okha jetty in the coastal Devbhumi Dwarka district, shared sensitive information about the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships coming to the jetty with a Pakistan-based woman for a payment of Rs 200 per day, said Superintendent of Police (ATS) K Siddharth.

He has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the government under sections 61 and 147 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the SP told reporters.

The ATS had been keeping a close watch on Gohel after receiving a tip-off that the labourer was in touch with an agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI or an Army officer. Technical surveillance mounted after the tip-off established that phone calls and messages to Gohel emanated from Pakistan, he said.

"For the past three years, Gohel has been employed by a contractor who repairs Coast Guard vessels at Okha jetty. Gohel came in contact with a woman named Sahima on Facebook nearly seven months ago. The woman then started talking to him on WhatsApp," informed Siddharth.

The woman, who told Gohel that she works for the Pakistan Navy, offered to pay Rs 200 per day if he shared names and numbers of Coast Guard ships arriving at the jetty and their movement, said the police officer.

"Despite knowing that it was illegal, Gohel agreed and started sharing such sensitive information," said the SP.

Since Gohel does not have a bank account of his own, he gave the account details of three of his friends. They all received Rs 42,000 in total through UPI during the last seven months from the woman. Gohel used to take cash from his friends against those deposits, said the IPS officer. 

(With inputs from PTI)