Indian diplomat's cook in Islamabad was working for ISI, held in U'khand

Lucknow/Pithoragarh: In a development that has all the ingredients for a spy fiction novel, the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorist squad arrested a suspected ISI agent, who worked at the home of an Indian diplomat in Pakistan.

Ramesh Singh Kanyal, who was arrested from his home in Didihat area in Pithoragarh on Wednesday, worked as a cook at a diplomat’s residence in Islamabad from 2015-2017, officials in Lucknow and Pithoragarh said. Kanyal has confessed to his role in anti-national activities and has been taken to Lucknow for interrogation, the police confirmed.

Kanyal is accused of passing on confidential information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence for money, while he was in Islamabad. A Pakistani ‘Q-mobile’ phone was recovered during the search carried out at his home on Friday.

The phone was given to him by the ISI for contacting them, an ATS official said, adding that data extraction of the instrument could provide vital clues. It is suspected that the phone could have a spyware.

Kanyal had come into contact with the ISI in Islamabad and was recruited as an agent of Pakistan’s intelligence agency. Kanyal would leak secret information for which he was paid in dollars. During his visits to India on holidays, he would convert the dollars into Indian rupees in New Delhi and take the money to his village, he said.

When Ramesh returned to India, he was asked by Pakistani ISI officials to spy for them from India and was also given the phone. Kanyal is also likely to be questioned aboutwho he was ordered to spy on in UP. Q-Mobile is a phone brand in Pakistan that offers affordable touch screens, QWERTY, Wi-Fi and Android operating system facilities. Effo-rts will be on to get a police remand for Ram-esh, on transit remand currently, for detailed interrogation.