Pakistan arrests 3 suspected R&AW spies for targeting CPEC
Pakistani police have arrested three suspected spies from India's Research and Analysis Wing intelligence agency. Police said the three were allegedly targeting "Chinese engineers, sensitive installations and (the) China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," the Express Tribune reported. The arrests comes amid simmering India-Pakistan tensions following the death sentence granted to retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court spying charges.
A Pakistani Military Court on Monday awarded death-sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav, for alleged espionage in Pakistan and inciting violence in Balochistan. In a demarche issued by the Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, India noted that the sentence will be treated as premeditated murder if carried out. India further slammed the court proceedings as farcical, withholding an earlier planned release of Pakistani prisoners on Wednesday.
Police alleged R&AW "assigned them (the 3 suspects) new targets such as the Combined Military Hospital Rawalakot, CPEC projects, Chinese engineers and sensitive installations in Azad Kashmir," a reference to what India calls Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. "The terrorists disclosed that Indian army officers and RAW officers Major Ranjeet, Major Sultan, and another officer were in touch with the arrested individuals," police said.
All three men have been charged under Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act and Explosives Act and will be produced before an anti-terrorism court. Police said they attended several meetings with Indian Army and R&AW officers to discuss possible targets after crossing the Line of Control. The have been accused of orchestrating a bomb blast last year in Abbaspur.
