“He was told that he would be compensated and if he did not comply, he would have to stay imprisoned for two to three years,” the minister said.
He continued, "So this common fisherman was ultimately released by the Indian intelligence agency and was sent to Pakistan on a mission to procure certain things... which included uniforms of the Pakistan Navy, the Pakistan Army, and of Sindh Rangers." “He was tasked to procure uniforms with certain nametags, as well as certain fittings and measurements because this was part of a larger plan of the Indian intelligence agency to launch a propaganda war against Pakistan,” Tarar stated, displaying images of items that were allegedly recovered from the fisherman.
The minister placed the fisherman in question under surveillance while he attempted to acquire the items, claiming that Pakistan's intelligence agencies were well-equipped to deal with any situation. “While he was under surveillance, our law enforcement agencies were fully alert and following his trail. He was also told to get Pakistani currency, cigarettes, match boxes, lighters and was asked to specifically procure Zong SIM cards,” he said.
According to the minister, "he procured all these items, and he was on his way to India when law enforcement agencies apprehended him from the sea, arrested him, and took these items into custody." After playing a rumored video of the arrested fisherman, Tarar said, "Let me make it very clear that Pakistan intelligence agencies and security agencies are always fully alert and diligent in their duty [...] and ready to foil any conspiracy." The minister noted, “This particular activity could be linked to the naval exercise being carried out by the Indian navy in the Kutch or Gujarat area, the Bujh area. It's possible that this was a plot to connect this activity to those exercises. One possibility is this. He added that the evidence was being presented to the entire world by the government so that India's "nefarious designs could be exposed." Tarar emphasized that the man's statement was "legally on record" in addition to the fact that the aforementioned items had been recovered. The minister stated, "This is part of a larger plan by India to denigrate Pakistan and use such propaganda and disinformation, and we have been very active countering the misinformation and disinformation by the Indian media and Indian state." He stated, "Now this is a glaring example of the extent to which the Indian state will go to malign Pakistan because they are unable to digest Pakistan's successes." “So this is the kind of propaganda warfare that they resort to, and detailed investigations have been carried out,” he said, adding that Mallah had also confessed to his crimes.
In addition, the minister of information emphasized that whenever state elections are imminent in India, they "try to prepare for those elections well in advance." He termed the arrest and the foiling of the “conspiracy” a big success for Pakistan’s security agencies.
“After Kulbhushan Yadav, they are now resorting to common fishermen because they can’t risk sending their commissioned officers in the guise of businessmen,” Tarar quipped, referring to an Indian spy caught in 2016 in Balochistan.
He continued, "Maybe they will lower their level further after this fisherman was caught because their capacity will no longer be there to penetrate inside Pakistan." The press conference also included foreign media correspondents. After Tarar, Chaudhry briefed the media on the incident’s details in Urdu.
He also said that Pakistani agencies had evidence of the transactions worth “RS95,000” that took place between Indian officials and the fisherman. Whether Chaudhry was referring to Pakistani or Indian rupees was unclear. The state minister urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid being manipulated by a greedy or coercive individual. The ministers also played an audio recording that was found through forensic analysis of the fisherman's mobile phone and purportedly of Mallah and his "Indian handler." In the purported audio, the person tells Mallah to secure two sets each of uniforms worn by the Sindh Rangers, the Pakistan Navy and the Pakistan Army. He also says he had specified “six names” — two from each of the three security branches — for nametags that Mallah was supposed to procure.
Accepted offer due to fear of jail and for reward: fisherman
The minister then played a supposed video of the fisherman, in which he claimed that the Indian coast guards caught him while he was fishing in August of this year. The man who went by the name Mallah said in the video that he was from the Shah Bandar taluka in the Thatta district of Sindh and that fishing was his family's job. He stated, "They (Indian coast guards) took me to a jail in an undisclosed location after catching me, where I was interrogated by an official of an Indian secret agency." The man went on to say that the Indian official told him that the crime for which he was held could land him in jail for two to three years. “He (the official) told me that if I worked for them, then they could let me go,” Mallah said.
He went on to say, "He also offered me money and gifts, so due to the fear of jail and for the reward, I accepted the offer." "Then he told me that bring such and such items, some uniforms of Rangers, coast guard, navy, and army," he continued. According to the fisherman, the Indian official stated, "We also need three Zong SIMs, bring those, and three bills from a mobile shop." The official also instructed him to bring Pakistan-made cigarettes, match boxes and lighters, as well as currency notes of Rs50 and Rs100, Mallah added.
The fisherman said he was set free by the Indian agency, after which he returned to Pakistan and collected the said items. He claimed that he sent Ashok Kumar, an Indian intelligence officer, a picture of those items. “After that, I headed towards the sea in October but was arrested by Pakistani security and other individuals with them,” Mallah said.
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