New Delhi: Indian government sources on Tuesday rubbished the ‘video confession’ of ex-naval officer, Kul Bhushan Yadav, arrested on charges of espionage in Pakistan.
In the six-minute video released by Pakistani government officials today, Kul Bhushan Yadav, claims he is working for India's top intel agency RAW and that he is still with the Indian navy.
The head of Pakistan Army's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lt Gen Asim Bajwa and Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid held a press conference in Islamabad to release the video, saying Kul Bhushan Yadav ‘confessed’ of working for Indian intelligence agency RAW to ‘foment trouble’ in restive province of Balochistan.
Read: India disowns ex-Navy officer arrested in Pakistan
Official sources in New Delhi rubbished the purported ‘confession’ and said it was Pakistan's ‘propagandist ploy’ to deflect the attention from its own problem of ‘home-grown terrorism’.
The sources also said India was not given the consular access to Yadav despite its requesting for the same and alleged that the release of the video was Pakistan's attempt to deflect the attention from the Pathankot terror strike probe.
Ministry of External Affairs said, “The statement by the arrested person clearly indicates tutoring and we are concerned about his well-being.”
MEA further said, “Our enquiries reveal the Indian was being harassed while operating legitimate business from Iran.”
Read: Indian’s arrest is a Pak Army ploy
Citing Yadav's case, Bajwa accused India of carrying out ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ in Pakistan. There cannot be a clearer "evidence of Indian interference in Pakistan", he claimed.
The Pakistanis claimed that Yadav had established a small business in Chabahar in Iran and had ‘directed’ anti-Pakistan activities in Karachi and Balochistan.
"He converted to Islam and worked at Gadani under the cover of a scrap dealer," Bajwa said at a joint press conference with Rashid.
Last week, Pakistan summoned Indian high commissioner Gautam Bambawale to lodge its protest over ‘subversive activities’ by an alleged RAW officer a day after the Pakistani security forces claimed to have arrested him.
In New Delhi, the external affairs ministry said the person arrested had no link with the government since his premature retirement from the Indian Navy. The MEA further said: “India has no interest in interfering in the internal matters of any country and firmly believes a stable and peaceful Pakistan is in the interest of the region.”
Read: Ex-naval officer could have been lured to Balochistan: govt sources
Kul Bhushan Yadav, who was described by the Pakistanis as a ‘commander-rank officer’ of the Indian Navy who was working for RAW, was reportedly arrested on March 24 in the Chaman area of Balochistan. He has been shifted to Islamabad for interrogation, Pakistani officials said.
In the video, Yadav says that he lives in Mumbai and is ‘still a serving officer in the Indian navy, due for retirement by 2022.’
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He says that he began working as an intel recruit after the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001 and that he then set up a small business in Iran which provided him cover for frequent trips to Pakistan before becoming a RAW agent in 2013.
He added that he was caught while trying to cross in to Pakistan from Iran on March 3.
