NEW DELHI, MAR 31 (DNA) – An Indian national by the name Ravi Kumar supposedly working as a Pakistani secret agent has been arrested on Friday, 30^th of March. Indian authorities claim he was working as a spy for Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI. However, there is little evidence, if any, to back up these claims.

The Punjab Police of India has said that the man was arrested in Amritsar district in the north-western state of Punjab near the Chatiwind police station.

The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) and Military Intelligence together arrested Kumar. But who is Ravi Kumar? What’s his background? What is his qualification and profession? Where does he belong to? These details have not been released.

TV reports in India claim Kumar had photographs of vital installations, hand-made maps of restricted areas, photocopies of restricted training manuals of the Army and information regarding Army attack formations. The ‘preliminary investigation’ seems to have revealed that he was recruited via Facebook over seven months ago. If he really was a spy, why would he give up such sensitive information in a preliminary investigation? Not giving up information and identity is what spies are especially trained for.

How did Kumar manage to get photocopies of restricted training manuals of the Indian Army? Did he have contacts in the Indian Army that gave him information regarding attack formations? Did he take photographs of vital installations from his phone? What are these vital installations exactly? And perhaps the most important questions is, why would he do all this?

The claim made by authorities in India that someone working on behalf of the ISI possessed ‘hand-made maps’ is not new. Ajmal Kasab, who was accused of perpetrating the Mumbai terror attacks and then hanged, also had hand-drawn maps. An Indian Judge at the time ruled that better mapscould be obtained with the help of the internet or via google maps than the ones Kasab had got from his associates, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Sheikh. Interestingly, Faheem Ansari’s lawyer was shot down in what many described as a targeted killing.

India also claims Ravi Kumar flew to Dubai to meet with his ISI handlers from February 20^th to the 24th. His trip to Dubai was apparently funded by Pakistani intelligence agency and he was briefed there about his tasks.

TV reports in Indian media also claim he was receiving funds from the ISI. It is claimed that information with regard to the movement of “Army units, construction of new bunkers on the Indian side of the border, photographs of Army vehicles and their formation signs, exercises and trainings and activity/construction” was given to his handlers by him.

Several questions are worth raising here. Why have meetings in Dubai? What evidence is there to support these claims? Media reports are not definite proof of anything. Was Kumar an unwitting agent or a full-blown spy? Why was Ravi Kumar motivated to act on ISI’s behalf? What did he have to gain?

Reportedly, he had been contacting the ISI regularly over his phone, the internet and Facebook. However, it’s worth mentioning that all these channels are very easily penetrated and put under surveillance. Easy to use apps available on smartphones can be used to track messages sent and received via phone and internet. Governments in virtually every country can listen in on and monitor Facebook conversations. A spy is more likely to use secure means of communication. Handlers for any spy are likely to ensure such training.