Mehmood Akhtar, the Pakistan High Commission official who was detained for espionage (October 26), was trying to gather classified information on deployment of Indian security forces along the western coast, possibly to carry out a strike similar to the 2008 (2611) Mumbai terror attack. Akhtar was trying to gather information pertaining to deployment of security forces along the western coast, Sir Creek and Kutch areas and also about military installations in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa, a Home Ministry official said. "There have been intelligence inputs that Pakistan's ISI was planning to send terrorists through the sea route to carry out a Mumbaitype terror attack in India. Akhtar's activities and his interests to gather information about the western coast buttress the intelligence inputs," the official said.
In his statement to police, Akhtar admitted that he was part of the spy ring for more than a year. He has named a few officers of the Pakistani High Commission whom he was reporting to with all the information but Police were yet to take action against them as there was no direct evidence as of now. Read less...