NIA arrests Kolkata resident on espionage charge

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Kolkata resident allegedly involved in passing confidential security-related information to Pakistan intelligence officers (PIOs), said the agency on Wednesday (May 20, 2026).

The accused has been identified as Zafar Riaz alias Rizvi, against whom a Look Out Circular had earlier been issued and proceedings were initiated to declare him a proclaimed offender. He was married to a Pakistani national, with their children also being Pakistani citizens, as alleged.

“Convicted earlier in an espionage case under the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and the Official Secrets Act, Zafar had been travelling frequently between India and Pakistan since 2005,” the NIA said.

In a case registered by the NIA’s Delhi unit in December 2025, the agency found that he was allegedly contacted and cultivated by PIOs to carry out espionage activities in India “in lieu of financial inducements and the promise of Pakistani citizenship”.

“To facilitate other espionage and terror operatives, the accused had provided one-time passwords (OTPs) of Indian telecom mobile numbers to a PIO to help him activate WhatsApp accounts. The alleged PIO had used these accounts to secretly communicate with one Moti Ram Jat, also an accused in the instant case. Jat was also engaged in conveying secret security-related information to the PIO,” said the agency, adding that further investigations were under way to identity others involved in the racket.

In May 2025, the NIA conducted searches in 15 locations in Delhi, Maharashtra (Mumbai), Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Assam and West Bengal. The same month, it arrested the then Central Reserve Police Force Assistant Sub Inspector Moti Ram Jat, who was dismissed from service. He had allegedly been passing on information to PIOs since 2023.