Pak spy was a tax payer in Lucknow

He got money from Pakistan to procure fake passport in India

He got money from Pakistan to procure fake passport in India

The department of tax missed the chance of having a unique face to its Pay Your Tax campaign.

In hiding: Delhi Police produced aides of Pakistani spy Mohammad Sayeed at the Tees Hazari Courts in New Delhi on Tuesday. PIC/IMTIYAZ KHAN

The man in question is in police custody, not for paying tax, but for spying for Pakistan.

Mohammad Sayeed alias Aamir Ali, who was arrested on Sunday by the Delhi Police special cell, filed income tax returns during his stay in Lucknow, it has been learnt.

Sayeed was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport before he could board a Dubai-bound flight.

Apart from other incriminating documents, a genuine Indian passport was also found in his possession. The address given in the passport was from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. A second-hand laptop was also seized, which was reportedly sold by Sayeed to a man.

On the trail of his local contacts, the special cell sleuths took Sayeed Lucknow and it was found that he stayed in Vijay Khand.

Sources in the Lucknow police told MiD DAY that a man identified as Khalil helped Sayeed in procuring the passport and settling down in the Uttar Pradesh capital.

"Sayeed stayed in 2/22, Vijay Khand and worked as an electrician. He roamed the Luknow streets with Khalil on a Hero Honda bike and had a perfect disguise," sources said.

They also said Sayeed got Rs 12,000 and Rs 16,000 from Pakistan through Western Union Money Transfer for paying the touts to get a passport.

To leave nothing to chance, Sayeed even filed Income Tax returns and had a bank account with Bank of Baroda in Lucknow. "He had also filed for a loan but did not take it," they added.

In 2005, Sayeed got a fake driving licence issued in his name with the help of an unidentified clerk near Sahara building where the old regional transport office was housed. It was Khalil who helped Sayeed in producing the fake identity documents required for the licence.

Prem Prakash, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Lucknow) said the special cell officers had come to the Police station Gomti Nagar and they were "co-ordinating" with the Delhi Police. "We are not investigating the whole case but probing on how he managed to get a fake passport with a fake identity card. It's too early to say anything about the case."

Brijlal, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Uttar Pradesh, refused to comment on the matter. Meanwhile, special cell sleuths arrested two people from Lucknow, suspected to have helped Sayeed.

New Delhi Activities
Sayeed stayed at hotel Karan International in Paharganj in New Delhi and learnt mobile repairing at Mansarovar Park, east Delhi. During his four-year stay in New Delhi he had also worked as a driver with one Bansal Travels and often took tourists to hill stations. "It isn't clear why he visited a number of hill stations during this period.

It could be an alibi to do recee in and around places in New Delhi," said a senior special cell officer, requesting anonymity.

Sayeed had also worked as a driver in Pakistan before coming to India.u00a0 The police are also on the lookout for a cyber cafe named Metro Plaza near Gomti Nagar in Lucknow from where he used sent e-mails to his contacts.u00a0