ISI operative arrest case: STF, other intelligence agencies start probe

Darjeeling: Day after the arrest of Guddu Kumar from Siliguri on the suspicion of being an ISI operative, the Special Task Force (STF) sleuths took him to his rented house to conduct a search operation and also questioned his landlord and neighbours. He was also questioned by different intelligence agencies.

Guddu Kumar, a resident of Champaran, Bihar, had been living in Siliguri since the past two years. In the pretext of taking passengers around in his Toto (e-rickshaw) he would collect vital information, mainly on army camps and troop movement and relay the information. He was arrested on Wednesday by the STF of the West Bengal police and produced at a

Jalpaiguri Court. The Court had remanded him to 14 days of police custody.

On Thursday, Guddu Kumar alias Mohammad Shakeel was taken to the STF office where he was interrogated by different intelligence agencies. He was then taken to his rented room in Debasish Colony in Ward 24 of Siliguri. The STF conducted a thorough search of the premises.

"I have known Guddu since the past two years. He has been living in my house since the past one year and in a neighbouring house before shifting here. I found nothing suspicious about him. No one ever came to meet him. When I rented the room to him, I had taken copies of his documents including Adhar, Pan, EPIC and even his mark sheet. He is a B.Sc. Graduate

hence I even asked him to tutor my child," stated the owner of the house.

The owner added that Guddu always desired to know more about Siliguri and would talk of starting new business ventures like running a hotel; opening a grocery store. He would frequent the vegetable market and supermarket in search of fresh business opportunities.

A STF team could be visiting Bihar soon to corroborate information declared by the arrested and for further investigation. They are also trying to unearth information about the network and Guddu's handler.