Last week, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting of chief ministers to discuss the issues of Naxalism and internal security, Navin Patnaik was the only one to turn up. Other chief ministers from Naxalite-affected states gave it a miss. A peeved and hurt Manmohan sent letters to all the absentee chief ministers expressing regret over their attitude vis-à-vis issues related to internal security.
In letters sent by MOS in PMO Prithviraj Chavan and National Security Advisor MK Narayanan to the chief ministers of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, it has been categorically asked of them to keep a keen eye on the law and order situation in their respective states. The letter talks in details about the recovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition from Gaya in Bihar and activities of Pakistan-trained militants in different cities of Uttar Pradesh. On the other hand, the Union home ministry has also cautioned Uttar Pradesh Police that Pak-trained ISI agents are trying to set up their operational hub in Kanpur. All these years, Azamgarh used to be the centre of ISI activities but the Pakistan agency is now trying to set up a base in Kanpur as well. This follows a report given by the Special Investigation Bureau to the state government in their letter numbered MHA/IB/-33221/VIP-09. The letter led to the arrest of Imtiaz, an ISI agent, from Kanpur on September 12. According to sources in the bureau, Imtiaz used to deal in drugs and fake currency. He used to frequent those districts of Uttar Pradesh which lie on the border with Nepal. He is also supposed to have visited several districts in western UP as well.
Imtiaz has made startling revelations under sustained interrogation. According to the bureau, Imtiaz confirmed that the decision to turn Kanpur into an ISI hub was taken after detailed research and recce. He was given the task of setting up the logistics. He has also revealed that he was assisted by quite a few people in his operation. On his tip-off, police has detained one Jayant Budhani, an unemployed youth who had recently shifted from Gujarat to Kanpur.
A resident of Ratanlal Nagar in Kanpur, Jayant is dependent on his father. When IB conducted a detailed background check of Jayant, it was found that this 28-year-old man indulged in all things which required continuous flow of fat money. When his calls were traced, it was found that Jayant was regularly in tough with Imtiaz and used to call him late in the night. It was also confirmed that he had apparently promised to work for Imtiaz in lieu of money. It was also revealed that Jayant used to transport fake currencies between Delhi, Gujarat and Mumbai.
