Pakistan eyes Colombo as ISI looks South

timesofindia

After security was tightened along the borders in the north with Nepal and Bangladesh, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence has been trying to build a base in Sri Lanka to gain entry to India, say experts. The arrest of suspected ISI agent Sakir Hussain from Sri Lanka in Chennai on Tuesday is an indicator of the accuracy of this line of thinking.

Central agencies, who made the arrest, believe that Hussain, 37, was in Chennai as he had been tasked by a senior official in the Pakistan high commission in Colombo with recruiting youth from south India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, for circulation of fake currency and terror activities. Hussain's confession has made Indian agencies take a closer look at Pakistan's plans in Colombo.

Col R Hariharan, a retired military intelligence specialist on South Asia, said the ISI had been trying to gain a larger foothold in Sri Lanka to execute its designs on India. "A few years back, the Pakistan government appointed a retired army person in its high commission in Colombo. He had direct links with ISI, which is keen on finding an entry point in south India using Colombo as a foothold," Hariharan told TOI. He said gold and counterfeit currency smugglers had found it easy to run operations from Colombo.

Investigating officers in the Sakir Hussain case said he was trying to recruit smalltime smugglers in Chennai and other parts of TN. Intelligence officials recalled the arrest of Thanjavur-based trader A Tamim Ansari, who police suspected was a Pakistani agent, in Trichy when he was on his way to board a flight to Sri Lanka with a bunch of secret Indian naval documents and compact discs loaded with maps.

A senior intelligence official also recalled the arrest of a senior leader of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). "The organization was banned after one of its leaders attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK) in early 2000. He used Colombo as transit for his trip," the official pointed out.

A central intelligence agency recently alerted the state police that four Sri Lankan citizens with ISI connections were likely to enter Tamil Nadu. Hariharan said the integrated structure involving central intelligence and police organizations in states were not yet fully in place. "It has to progress at a faster pace with greater commitment both at the central and state levels," he said.

Officials said that the launch of National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) was a crucial initiative and its successful implementation could improve the country's real time response to terror attacks.