By Manas Paul
The local newspapers recently carried a news item on arrested ISI operative Munir Khan who had been produced before an Agartala court in July last. According to news reports, which ostensibly quoted from police docket, Khan told the investigating and interrogating cops that he was ‘Sub Inspector” of ISI.
If this was ‘true’ than there something indeed is seriously amiss.
The fact is there is no rank as “Sub Inspector” in ISI.
The ISI or ‘Inter Services Intelligence’ is essentially a military organization of Pakistan. It was formed in 1947 by a British military officer Maj. Gen R Cawthorn. The ISI –always commanded by Pak military generals at the rank ‘Lt General’- called Director General- is virtually a counterpart of military intelligence of India. Present Director General of ISI is Lt Gen. Ahmed Suja Pasha. Pakistan’s military chief General A. Kiyani had also been once the ISI chief.
The ISI is formed with two main components –one is military and the other is civil recruits. The military officers are deputed in the ISI for maximum three years so as to limit their influence. The civilians are recruited in the ISI through Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan through intensive scrutiny, checks and cross checks in their past, ideological, religious, political, social beliefs and mindset. The civilian recruits are also given military rank but they are not allowed to hold the rank above ‘Major’-which are exclusively reserved for the direct military officers.
The ISI's has seven departments known as ‘ Joint Intelligence X’, ‘Joint Intelligence Bureau’, ‘Joint Counter Intelligence Bureau’, ‘Joint Intelligence North’, ‘Joint Intelligence Miscellaneous’, ‘Joint Signal Intelligence Bureau’ and ‘Joint Intelligence technical’.
Among them JIB and JIM are considered most powerful. While JIB looks after intelligence gathering –political and otherwise- it has sub departments, one among them specifically for India. JIN was also exclusively meant for Jammu and Kashmir while JIM is entrusted with the dirty jobs which include among others offensive espionage, sabotage, surveillance etc.
It is quite likely that Munir Khan was entrusted with the offensive mission under JIM.
The mission could be anything – from reactivating HUJI-B in an attempt to assassinate Sheikh Hasina either in Bangladesh or during her proposed Agartala visit, to reporting the ground level condition in view of the recent development relating to Indo-Bangla bilateral trade and imminent opening up of Ashuganj and even Chittagong port for Tripura, or cultivating disgruntled section (smugglers et al) that might get affected in case of new trade and transit opportunities, or even strengthening hawala racket for future use.
Besides, the ISI, like most of the intelligence services of the world, is not known for sending their own ranking officers in foreign country to work as ‘deep cover’ or ‘sleeper’ agent. The task is usually given to recruits – a common man selected carefully- from outside the organization after proper training indoctrination and acclimatization. This also gives the recruiting organization a scope for deniability in case of exposure or arrest.
Khan’s claim that he had been recruited from Bahawalpur of Punjab province in Pakistan fits in this context. That he was trained for three months by ISI in Bahawalpur and Multan is also believable. But none in his right mind would accept that ISI sent an ‘officer’-that too, a probationer- who had only three months training in espionage business to work in a far off place like Bangladesh-Tripura-Assam.
The claim that Khan was a ‘Sub Inspector’ of ISI is thus far from the truth. It is likely that Khan was bluffing and the cops had believed in it to incorporate his supposed ‘ISI rank’.
Such slip-if it really occurred in police docket-also does neither add to the image of the police nor in long run to the case when placed for trial in the court of law.
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