Pakistan sentences Indian spy Kulbushan Yadav to death
In a rare move, a military court on Monday sentenced Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadhav to death for involvement in espionage and sabotage activities in Pakistan.
The head of the military’s media wing DG ISPR Major-General Asif Ghafoor said,”The spy was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence. Today, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed his death sentence awarded by FGCM.”
Yadav alias Hussein Mubarak Patel was arrested on March 3, 2016 through a counter intelligence operation from Mashkel, Balochistan
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Yadav was tried by FGCM under section 59 of PAA 1952 and Section 3 of official Secret Act of 1923. FGCM found Yadhav guilty of all the charges, the statement added.
Earlier, Yadav confessed before a magistrate and court that he was tasked by India’s premier spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to plan, coordinate and organise espionage andsabotage activities aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan by impeding the efforts of Law Enforcement Agencies for restoring peace in Balochistan and Karachi. The accused was provided with defending officer as per legal provisions.
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Yadav, an Indian Navy commander and agent of the RAW, was earlier posted at Chabahar port in southeastern Iran where he lived with his wife and two children and possessed a genuine Indian passport but with a fake name, Hussein Mubarak Patel.
The bilateral dialogue process between Islamabad and New Delhi was suspended after Yadav’s arrest.
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India had sought consular access to Yadav, however, Pakistan had refused its request.
Pakistan believes that India is using covert means to foment violence in the country with an aim to undermine the multibillion dollar ‘one belt, one road’ initiative of China. The recent surge in terrorist attacks in the country has once again brought the India intelligence agencies’ role in backing the terrorism in Pakistan to the spotlight.
Security officials claim that RAW was using certain militant outfits operating out of Afghanistan to carryout terrorist attacks in the country. The current Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is considered to be the architect of this policy called ‘offensive defensive’ that advocates a policy of supporting proxies to create trouble inside Pakistan.