'Spying for Pakistan': After cobbler, now tailor arrested from Bathinda Cantonment area

Representative image

A 32-year-old tailor from Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district has been arrested by the Bathinda Cantonment Police with assistance from Army intelligence over alleged suspicious activities within the military area.

The man, identified as Raqib Khan, was picked up earlier this week after sensitive photographs and information reportedly related to cantonment zones were found on his mobile phone. He was produced in a local court on Tuesday and has been remanded to police custody for three days for further interrogation, according to a TOI report.

This is the second suspected espionage case reported from Bathinda military cantonment in recent weeks. On 29 April, a 26-year-old cobbler from Bihar, Sunil Kumar Ram, was arrested by Army personnel for allegedly spying for Pakistan. According to officials, he was in contact with a Pakistani woman and had been leaking sensitive details, including photographs of the cantonment area, through WhatsApp chats. He is currently in judicial custody.

Raqib, a resident of Dausni village in the Laksar constituency, was apprehended and produced before a local court

in Bathinda on Tuesday. He was working as a tailor in a shop inside Bathinda cantonment at the time of his arrest.

According to sources cited by TOI, Army intelligence had been monitoring Raqib for some time. Sensitive photographs and data allegedly linked to cantonment areas were recovered from his mobile phone. The device has now been sent for forensic analysis. Police and intelligence teams also conducted inquiries in Dans village on Wednesday, questioning at least five individuals from his family and community.

“As a precaution, we called a few of his relatives for questioning and later released them. If Punjab Police wish to share any information with us, we are ready to extend full cooperation,” SP (rural) SC Suyal was quoted as saying by TOI.

Raqib’s family, however, has strongly denied any wrongdoing. They claim his limited education — he studied only up to Class 5 — may have led to unintentional missteps, including befriending a foreign national on social media platforms, which could have raised suspicion among the security agencies.

Raqib’s family, part of the Muslim Darji community, has a long-standing professional association with cantonment areas across Punjab. Nearly 60 years ago, his grandfather migrated to the region to work as a uniform tailor, a tradition carried on by his father, Mohammad Iqbal and later, Raqib and his brothers, as per TOI.

All five of Raqib’s siblings are tailors and he is the youngest among them. He is married with two young children who reside in Dausni. After his father’s passing seven years ago, Raqib took over the tailoring business and had recently returned to Bathinda following a short stay at home.

Dausni village, with a population of around 5,000, includes nearly 1,000 Muslim residents, of which about 15 families belong to the Darji community.