Pakistani spy set to go home after 10-yr sentence

Kolkata: The Kolkata City Sessions Court sentenced three men guilty of espionage for Pakistan, and involvement in a counterfeit currency operation for 10 years, on Friday. A fourth accused was sentenced to five years of imprisonment.Among the convicted was a Pakistani national named Mohammad Ijaz, while the other three, Afsar Ansari, Sheikh Badal, and Mohammad Jahangir, were Indian nationals. While Ijaz, Ansari and Jahangir received 10 years of imprisonment, they also paid Rs 5,000 as a fine. Badal received five years of imprisonment.
However, as the accused already served their time in jail, they were likely to be released, said chief public prosecutor Dipankar Kundu. Ijaz will be sent to Pakistan following legal protocols, said Kundu. On Thursday, CJ Sukumar Roy pronounced all accused guilty. STF apprehended Afsar Ansari and his father Irshad Ansari in April 2015 for sharing classified images of Kolkata Port to Pakistani intelligence agencies.According to the STF, Mohammad Kalam alias Mohammad Ijaz is an ISI agent who hails from Islamabad, Pakistan. He was trained by the ISI and was sent to Bangladesh from Karachi with a Pakistani passport in Jan 2013. On Feb 9, 2013, with the help of Prabin, a Bangladeshi national, Ijaz sneaked into India and reached the house of Muhammad Irshad of South 24 Parganas. Investigators discovered that Ijaz obtained an Indian passport using forged documents. With his support, Afsar took photographs of various critical sections of the port and created a map. At that time, an Indian Navy warship was being constructed at the port. This network smuggled the photos, map, and the warship's design to Pakistan. Interrogation of the father-son duo led to the arrest of Sheikh Badal and Jahangir, who were also involved in the network. Various documents and counterfeit currency worth Rs 5 lakh were seized from them. During the proceedings, Irshad, passed away, and his name was removed from the case.