Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has adopted a clandestine strategy of using drug addicts and mentally unstable individuals to act as 'couriers' for delivering sensitive messages to hardcore terrorists lodged in Indian prisons.
Since July, over 10 cases of such infiltration have been reported, with Pakistani nationals crossing into India from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), officials concerned with the threat have revealed.
These individuals are suspected to be tasked with relaying communications to imprisoned extremists. Several have been detained in jails across Jammu, Punjab, and Rajasthan.
Interrogations of those apprehended indicate that they are trained in resistance techniques to evade providing critical information during questioning.
Their evasive responses and superficial narratives raise suspicions about a larger agenda driven by their handlers, officials explained.
The use of couriers is seen as a strategy to bypass electronic surveillance, which leaves digital footprints that could compromise covert plans.
ISI has reportedly opted for this traditional tactic to ensure secure delivery of communication across borders.
Security agencies have discovered that the couriers often include women and minors.
A notable case in July involved a minor from Pakistan's Attock, intercepted in Punjab, carrying damp paper with Arabic inscriptions that were illegible, officials shared.
In another instance, a Pakistani national from Rajasthan’s Bijnour village, posing as mentally unstable, admitted under intense questioning to collaborating with Pakistani drug lords Sarfaraz Johiya and Nawaz.
His role involved narcotics trafficking and gathering intelligence on Border Security Force (BSF) deployments.
Further highlighting the issue, a Pakistani youth, Mohammed Asad from Lahore, drove to the zero line on his motorcycle, appearing to await arrest.
During questioning, he claimed to have had a family dispute. Security officials suspect he was acting as a courier.
In October, Shahid Imran, a 31-year-old, infiltrated through the Jammu sector, claiming he intended to visit a Kali temple to get married.
Such infiltrators are typically charged under the Foreigners Act and Passports Act, with penalties ranging from two to eight years in prison, after which they are deported, officials clarified.
This modus operandi is not new. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, ISI employed "sawari operators" to exploit the Samjhauta Express rail link for courier operations.
The couriers smuggled drugs and funds to fuel terrorist activities in Jammu, Kashmir, and Punjab. While these operations were curtailed following crackdowns, the ISI appears to be replicating the tactic today.
Officials noted that these infiltration strategies mirror past practices, revealing the ISI's evolving tactics to outmanoeuvre Indian law enforcement and sustain their covert operations.
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