Bengal Police get details on how arrested spies helped Pak handlers get Indian numbers for WhatsApp
In the face of interrogation, the duo who are in police custody now have admitted that they used to procure prepaid mobile cards from the market using multiple Indian identity cards.
After those SIM cards and numbers were activated, the duo used to pass them to their Pakistani handlers. Subsequently, those numbers were used to open fake WhatsApp accounts. The duo also used to share the OTPs with their Pakistani handlers, required to activate WhatsApp for those numbers.
Sources said that to operate silently without much attention, the duo started operating under the garb of an NGO and that too from a rented accommodation in a place like Memari in East Burdwan district, which otherwise does not have many records of crime-related activities.
The state police insiders said the duo gave contradictory introductions about themselves to the owner of the apartment they rented and to their neighbours.
While to the owner, they introduced themselves as teachers of the English language; to the neighbours, they introduced themselves as heads of an NGO involved in different social welfare activities.
As told by the neighbours to the investigating officials, although in the locality Rajak and Gupta were known as true gentlemen, their interactions in the locality were limited.
The neighbours also told the cops that at times, some people used to come to meet them and stay at the rented accommodation for some time.
While Rajak was a resident of Panagarh in the West Burdwan district, Gupta was a resident of Bhawanipur in South Kolkata.
The cops doubt that Gupta and Rajak were part of a major espionage racket.
The investigating officials have already seized the mobile phones of the duo. The investigating officials are tracking the period when the arrested men had been operating as ISI linkmen, and also what kind of information they shared with their associates in Pakistan.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News18
an hour ago
- News18
UK Man Driving At 114kph 'Like Formula 1', Jailed For Killing Indian-Origin Woman's Unborn Baby
Last Updated: A UK teenager was convicted of killing an Indian-origin student's newborn boy in a car crash. He was given a jail term of 13 years for the crime. The man who hit an Indian-origin pregnant student and killed her newborn baby in the UK has been sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment, according to local media reports. The victim woman was identified as Renju Joseph, 31, who was five months pregnant when she was rammed into by a speeding car driven by 20-year-old man Ashir Shahid, as she was crossing a zebra crossing on Station Road in Bamber Bridge, Lancashire, in September last year, BBC reported. Shahid, who hailed from Windsor Road in Walton-le-Dale, pleaded guilty to his crime in June and admitted to causing death by dangerous driving. His brother, Sam Shahid, was also sent to a 3-year jail term by Preston Crown Court for assisting an offender. What Did The Court Say? The convict was driving the Toyota Prius at an estimated speed between 58mph and 71mph (114kmh) in a zone where 30mph was allowed in dark and wet conditions, the court was told. Sentencing them, the judge said that Ashir Shahid's acceleration moments before the crash was 'akin to what you may see on a Formula 1 race track". 'Olive's life lasted five hours and 38 minutes. He did not live to see dawn. His mother never saw him alive. His life was snubbed out before it really began," BBC quoted the judge as saying. The court slammed the defendants and said, 'You seemingly have no moral compass. Throughout these proceedings, you have sat with your heads down as if in shame. You have no shame," Metro reported. The judge described how the two convicts 'disappeared into the night like cowards" after the crash and then acted with 'breathtaking coolness" shortly after it, as they attempted to cover up the crime. He told them that the duo had 'not shown a care in the world for anyone and anything around you", as they drove rashly through residential streets. 'Your arrogant, selfish and shameless actions put multiple people at risk, including yourselves. Neither of you has a shred of remorse for your involvement that evening," Metro quoted the judge as saying. Prosecutor Emma Keogh told the court, 'An emergency C-section had to be carried out in an attempt to save the unborn child's life. The placenta had ruptured and Joseph had bled quite heavily. Her child was born that evening but sadly he only survived for a few hours before passing away." How Were Accused Persons Convicted? The Indian-origin woman was rushed to the hospital from the scene in the evening of September 29, 2024, and an emergency C-section was performed in an attempt to save the life of her son, Olive. According to a motorist who was travelling in the opposite direction at the accident site, Shahid seemed to increase the speed of his vehicle around 15 metres away from the crossing where he hit the woman, after which she was 'thrown into the air for quite some distance". She tumbled and rolled into his car, a witness said. Videos found on Shahid's phone and his 17-year-old brother's phone showed them laughing and singing while driving the car dangerously and at high speed. In the clips, Sam Shahid was seen sticking his feet and upper body out of the window, while the driver sometimes let go of the steering wheel and made gun-like hand gestures. Shahid was arrested days later. He initially did not confess to the crime; however, when his phone was checked, it revealed that on that night, he searched 'charge for hit and run human". A video clip on his Snapchat profile showed him singing along to the Shaggy song It Wasn't Me and laughing, the report said. In Friday's verdict, he was also banned from driving for 15 years and one month. He will also have to pass an extended retest. view comments Location : United Kingdom (UK) First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
AI engineer Varun Gupta, an IIT grad, gets probation and $34,000 fine for leaking Intel secrets to Microsoft
An ex-Intel engineer who stole 'thousands of files' from his former employer has escaped prison but won't escape the headlines. Varun Gupta, who left the chip giant in early 2020 to join Microsoft, has been handed two years' probation and a fine of $34,472 (around Rs 30,21,510) for lifting confidential documents, data that prosecutors say helped him secure his new role and gave Microsoft an edge in high-stakes negotiations with to Oregon Live, Gupta spent his final days at Intel quietly copying sensitive information from company systems. Among the material he walked away with was a PowerPoint presentation that outlined Intel's pricing strategies for a major client, the kind of playbook most rivals could only dream of report highlighted that Gupta had worked at Intel for a decade, serving as a product marketing engineer, before leaving in January 2020. Just days later, he was in the ranks at Microsoft. Court documents revealed that the files he took were 'instrumental' both to landing his new post and in later discussions between the two tech titans. Assistant US Attorney William Narus, who prosecuted the case, argued that Gupta's behaviour was deliberate and repeated. He urged the judge to impose eight months in federal prison, stressing that Gupta had 'purposefully and repetitively accessed secret documents' in order to bolster his defence painted a different picture. Gupta's lawyer, David Angeli, admitted the theft was a 'serious error in judgment' but insisted his client had already paid a heavy price. Gupta has lost the kind of senior industry roles he once held, and he previously settled a civil lawsuit with Intel to the tune of $40, Angeli argued, was punishment the end, US District Judge Amy Baggio settled somewhere in the middle. While refusing to send Gupta to prison, she did not let him off lightly. The $34,472 fine wasn't plucked out of thin air, it was calculated to reflect the cost of the eight months of federal imprisonment that prosecutors had pushed explained that this unusual figure underscored the seriousness of Gupta's misconduct, signalling that the court did not see it as a 'one-off indiscretion.' But she also noted that Gupta's reputation had already been dragged through the mud, which she considered punishment in its own the case now behind him, Gupta is turning his back on the world of semiconductors. Having paid his fine in full, he has relocated with his family to France, where life looks very different. Instead of battling over chips and contracts, he's swapping servers for say Gupta is currently studying vineyard management and plans to reinvent himself in the wine industry. His ambition? To become a technical director in viticulture.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
E-rickshaw violations in Delhi triple in 2 Years, stirring traffic chaos across city
E-rickshaws have become a growing menace on Delhi's roads, with traffic violations involving them more than tripling between January and July—from 89,551 in 2023 to 2,69,612 in 2025. The actual count of e-rickshaws is believed to be double the registered figure of 1.2 lakh, leading to severe congestion and disruptions, especially near metro stations and markets. Independence Day 2025 Modi signals new push for tech independence with local chips Before Trump, British used tariffs to kill Indian textile Bank of Azad Hind: When Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose gave India its own currency The rise in violations continues a clear upward trend: 1,30,284 violations were recorded by July last year, and camera-based challans, too, have surged—from 1,20,039 in 2023 to 1,80,771 in 2024, and 2,96,772 in 2025 so far. Of the 2025 cases, 27,160 were app- or notice-based reports. Among these, improper parking topped the list with 25,228 notices in 2025. Other common violations include driving on the wrong side (1,607 notices) and no-entry violations, which rose from 25,986 in 2024 to 41,394 in 2025. Driving without a licence and allowing unauthorised persons to drive are also among the top five offences. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 20 Things Women Should NEVER Wear! E-rickshaws were involved in 11 fatal accidents in 2024 and 17 till July 2025. Despite their importance for last-mile connectivity in the public transport system, officials and citizens alike are raising red flags over their chaotic proliferation and reckless behaviour. Live Events 'Entire Delhi has been taken over by erickshaw vala @dtptraffic is totally failed to control this. (sic),' posted one user on social media. Another said, 'Delhi mangey erickshaw se azadi, illegal carts se azadi.' Residents echoed similar frustrations: 'The situation is extremely bad in my area, and the most discouraging part is that it is getting worse every day. There is no traffic management here. The e‑rickshaws park improperly wherever they find space. Other vehicles don't get space to move on the road due to the e‑rickshaws. The number of e‑rickshaws should be capped in the locality,' said Karan Aggarwal from East of Kailash. A South Extension resident added, 'It's a very important issue because these three‑wheelers are undermining the city's glory and beauty.' Experts suggest stricter planning and control: Dr S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering and safety division, Central Road Research Institute, stated, 'Designating fixed stands near metro stations, markets and residential areas and capping the number of e‑rickshaws can help. One can often make out that some of the e‑rickshaw drivers are underage. The absence of proper training is evident in the frequent violation of traffic regulations by such e‑rickshaw operators.' He added, 'They seem to be increasing by the day. They should only operate on collector roads, not on arterial roads.' 'Many of our metro lines run along arterial roads and the e‑rickshaws mushroom in such areas, leaving only one lane for motorists. This needs to be thought through. In addition to e‑rickshaws, there are also taxis.' However, jurisdictional ambiguity remains a major bottleneck. Traffic enforcement officials said limiting the number of vehicles was outside their jurisdiction. They emphasised that rising penalties against registered vehicles prove they are taking action. 'Even though in the past the transport department made many claims about having brought the e‑rickshaw menace under control,' the article noted, 'officials did not respond to TOI's questions on the matter this time.' Notably, a Delhi High Court ruling in September 2014 had declared unregistered e-rickshaws illegal and led to a transport department notification banning e-rickshaw movement and idle parking across 236 road stretches. The Public Works Department was tasked with installing warning signboards in these restricted zones, but in many areas, such boards are now missing. Meanwhile, on Delhi's streets, from Laxmi Nagar to Chittaranjan Park, e-rickshaws continue to overload passengers, violate traffic norms, and slip through traffic, often in the wrong direction, thanks to their compact size. Behaviours like jumping red lights, sudden braking, erratic turns, and incessant honking have further disrupted city traffic.
