Pakistani fisherman working for Indian spy agencies caught in high seas: Tarar

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar on Saturday said the intelligence and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) had apprehended a fisherman Ijaz Mallah for his suspicious activities.

He said this addressing a news conference while flanked by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry in Islamabad.

Tarar said India had resorted to propaganda warfare and massive misinformation campaigns against Pakistan after facing worst failure and embarrassment in the Operation Sindoor.

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He said Mallah was carrying out certain tasks given by his Indian handlers. He said the fisherman was arrested in the high seas when he was on his way to India to deliver the uniforms of Sindh Rangers, Pakistan Navy and Army.

The federal minister said Pakistani currency, cigarettes, receipts and Zong SIM cards were also recovered from his possession.

“Ijaz Mallah was tasked to procure these uniforms with certain name tags and fitting, because it was part of a bigger plan of Indian intelligence agencies to launch propaganda warfare against Pakistan,” he said.

Sharing details about how the fisherman was lured into doing this, the minister said: “Ijaz Mallah used to go for fishing in the high seas and in September this year when he was out there fishing in the high seas he was arrested by the Indian coast guards and he was taken to an undisclosed location. He was coerced to do some tasks for the Indian intelligence agencies.”

He said Mallah was told that he would be compensated and if he did not comply he would have to stay imprisoned two to three years.

“So the fisherman was eventually released by the Indian intelligence agencies and was sent back to Pakistan with a task to procure certain things,” he said.

He said the arrest of the fisherman was a crystal clear example of what Indian state was doing to malign Pakistan. He said Pakistan was presenting the evidence before the entire world to expose India’s nefarious designs.

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Tarar said the entire world was fully aware of the Indian nefarious designs and false narrative.

“This particular activity could be linked with the naval exercise being carried out by the Indian Navy in the Kutch, Gujrat and Bhoj area,” the minister noted.

He said, after the arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, India was resorting to send common fishermen because they could not risk sending their commissioned officers in the guise of businessmen.

The minister made it clear that Pakistan’s armed forces and intelligence agencies were fully vigilant, alert, equipped and ready to thwart any eventuality.

On this occasion, Minister Chauhdry said Indian regime was habitual of doing fake encounters and staged incidents to build a state narrative.

The minister further shared that evidence of the transactions and communication between Indian handlers and Mallah had been recovered. He said fake media identities, uniforms, and documents had also been used to disguise the operation under credible-sounding names.

Chaudhry reiterated Pakistan’s stance as a responsible state, saying, “Pakistan respects the sovereignty of other nations and ensures its soil is not used against anyone. We expect the same in return.”

He called on the international community and independent media to examine the evidence and see the operation for what it was “a desperate bid to build a false narrative ahead of elections and amid growing political tensions in India.”