Barely a week prior to the Republic Day celebrations, the Madhya Pradesh Police have busted an ISI module and arrested a Pakistani national from the state capital and his two associates from Sagar. The police claimed that the trio supplied information regarding Army deployment to ISI in the last few months.

Imran Varsi of Kulsum Heights in Karachi was arrested from Kali Dhobanwali lane in Mangalwara locality of Bhopal on Sunday where he was staying with his wife and two children for the past few months. The police claimed they recovered incriminating documents from his house. His interrogation led to the arrest of Iqbal and Akhtar, who were operating from Sagar, which has a major Army unit.

Iqbal said he used to get money from Dubai via Western Union, which he used to pass on to Varsi. With Iqbal’s help, Varsi managed to procure a fake ration card and PAN card. He was about to apply for passports for himself and his family by showing himself as a domicile of Sagar.

IG (Intelligence) Sanjeev Singh said ISI had sent Varsi to Delhi from Karachi in 2003. From Delhi, he went to Kolkata and later to Dhaka, where he married Sajia, a relative. The police have recovered his marriage registration certificate issued by the Bangladesh Government. The couple came to Kolkata four years ago and since then have been living in different parts of India, including Srinagar and Mumbai, all the while supplying information to ISI through emails and telephone calls. The ISI asked him to come to Sagar and then to Bhopal, Singh said. According to police, his movement to Bhopal, a few months before Republic Day, points to his possible involvement in a terror plot.