By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Authorities said on Saturday they arrested a fisherman whom they accused Indian intelligence agencies of coercing into a scheme to fabricate evidence against Pakistan, in what the government described as a desperate bid by New Delhi to revive its tarnished image after a failed covert operation.
The detention of Ejaz Mallah, a fisherman from the southern province of Sindh, came after he was allegedly seized at sea by the Indian Coast Guard, pressured into espionage tasks, and then released to carry them out on Pakistani soil.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, speaking at a news conference alongside Talal Chaudhry, the minister of state for interior, called the episode a fresh “campaign of terrorism and misinformation” by India, mounted in the wake of its “humiliating failure” in an operation Sindoor. “India, unable to confront Pakistan on the battlefield or at diplomatic forums, had resorted to ‘underhanded tactics’ aimed at maligning Pakistan’s image internationally,” Tarar said, framing the arrest as a timely unmasking of New Delhi’s deceptions.
Mallah’s case highlights the perilous intersections of maritime livelihoods and geopolitical rivalries in the Arabian Sea, where fishermen from both nations routinely venture into disputed waters, only to find themselves ensnared in broader suspicions.
According to Tarar, fishman Mallah and several colleagues were detained while fishing in open waters, a common occurrence amid overlapping claims, and handed over to Indian intelligence operatives. There, he was instructed to gather items meant to stage a false-flag operation implicating Pakistan in subversive acts: uniforms from the Pakistan Army, Navy and Rangers; SIM cards; packs of local cigarettes; currency; and receipts.
“This arrest exposes India’s latest malicious plan and proves its continuing attempts to destabilise and discredit Pakistan through deception,” Tarar said. Pakistani intelligence agencies, spotting “suspicious behaviour” upon Mallah’s return, placed him under surveillance and apprehended him before he could proceed. The minister displayed photographs of the recovered materials at the briefing. “The arrest provides concrete proof of India’s covert and deceitful tactics,” he added. With Mallah’s statement now “legally on record,” the government vowed to lay the full evidence before the world. “We are placing the evidence before the entire world so that India’s nefarious designs could be exposed.”
Journalists at the briefing were shown a recorded confessional video from Mallah, in which he detailed his ordeal with a quiet resignation. He and other fishermen, he said, had been held by Indian authorities at sea. “I was told to carry out tasks for Indian agencies and released after agreeing to comply,” Mallah stated. He described his subsequent arrest by Pakistani security forces as he headed back out to fish.
Tarar likened the incident to the 2016 capture of Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian naval officer whom Pakistan convicted of espionage, a case that continues to roil relations, with India maintaining Jadhav was abducted from Iran and Pakistan defending a military tribunal’s death sentence, later stayed by the International Court of Justice. “This is another malicious attempt by India to stage a false flag operation,” Tarar said. He praised Pakistan’s security apparatus for “foiling an Indian conspiracy and exposing New Delhi’s false narrative before the world.” “The world is well aware of India’s malicious intentions and fabricated stories,” the minister continued, seeking to reassure a public attuned to such cross-border dramas. “Pakistan’s security agencies are on high alert and fully prepared to counter any such plots.”
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