Suspected RAW agent arrested in Azad Kashmir after ‘social media blackmail’ trap

WEB DESK: Police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have apprehended an individual allegedly working for India’s premier intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), following a targeted operation in Rawalakot.

The suspect was reportedly coerced into espionage through a sophisticated blackmail scheme orchestrated via social media.

AJK Inspector General of Police (IGP) Liaqat Ali Malik confirmed the arrest on Thursday, stating that the operation was a collaborative effort between the local police and sensitive state institutions to dismantle a burgeoning intelligence network.

The mechanics of the ‘Honeytrap’

According to the IGP, the recruitment process began on social media, where a handler operating under a fraudulent Facebook account purportedly based in Lahore established contact with the suspect.

The police revealed that the agency utilised malicious applications to compromise the target’s privacy, recording intimate videos and private chats to be used as leverage.

The suspect was initially assigned “small, commonplace tasks” to build a rapport and establish a pattern of compliance. However, these assignments quickly escalated in severity.

The individual was eventually tasked with geotagging sensitive locations, sharing precise coordinates, and filming military installations, schools, bridges, and government buildings across AJK and other regions of Pakistan.

A pattern of regional subversion

IGP Malik commended the security forces for their “pre-emptive action” in exposing a network he claimed was designed to trap innocent young people and inflict damage on national life and property.

This arrest follows a series of similar claims by Pakistani authorities regarding foreign interference.

Last December, the Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) reported the arrest of 12 individuals allegedly linked to RAW, while an August operation purportedly unearthed a network involved in targeted killings in Sindh.

The development aligns with recent rhetoric from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has accused New Delhi of employing proxies to incite instability.

Addressing the media, the IGP reaffirmed the police’s commitment to protecting the “holy land,” vowing to go to any lengths to thwart the “impure intentions” of hostile actors seeking to undermine regional security.