Pakistan claims to have arrested Indian national for 'spying' in Punjab province

Lahore: Police in Pakistan’s Punjab province claimed to have arrested an “Indian spy” in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Quoting police, local media reported that they arrested an Indian national who “admitted” himself to be a spy. Spying is punishable by death in Pakistan.

Police said the accused, identified as Raju Lakshman, was arrested on Wednesday from Rakhi Gaj area of Dera Ghazi Khan district, some 400-km from Lahore. He has been shifted to an undisclosed place for further investigation.

Police said Lakshman was arrested while entering the town from Balochistan province, the same province from where Pakistan claimed it arrested Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017 following which India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence and further remedies.

The ICJ ordered Pakistan last month to undertake an “effective review and reconsideration” of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay.

Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran.

However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.