13 netted in spy ring bust

siliguri: so far, 13 persons including one from delhi have been arrested following a crackdown on the inter-services intelligence spy ring here last week. in addition, intelligence officials of the 33 corps are interrogating at least 10 officers and jawans suspected to be connected with the spy ring. with the arrest of pakistani isi agent mohammad dilshad and his four acquaintances from siliguri and the adjoining areas, the police found that the spy ring had penetrated kolkata, dubai, hyderabad, delhi and even the army.a police team has gone to delhi to bring mohammad abdul bari, a hawala operator arrested there, and speed up investigation, said darjeeling superintendent of police sanjay chander. seven more persons were arrested from siliguri and the adjoining areas in the last two days. amongst them, suresh sharma and sitaram parekh, owners of a leading transport agency at siliguri, used to courier documents, money, camera and other materials to the operatives of the spy ring at various places in their cargo vehicles, informed the investigating officers. the police have sealed the transport company's office and we are expecting a few important leads from them, said chander. the arrest of army jawan mohammad azad along with dilshad rang the alarm bells at the 33 corps headquarters at sukna near siliguri. the army intelligence has also started an internal enquiry, based on azad's statements about his allies. though army officials promised to tackle the investigation on a war footing, they admitted on wednesday that a breakthrough had eluded them so far. while chief minister buddhadeb bhattacharjee has ordered that security be beefed up in north bengal, the police, intelligence and border security force would curb the entry of unwanted elements in north bengal. in addition to step up border vigil, night patrolling at bridges and vital installations would be increased. police stations have been asked to keep track of new faces in localities, said an intelligence officer.