A lawyer from Gurugram, arrested on charges of espionage for allegedly passing sensitive information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), maintained two bank accounts and made seven trips to Amritsar to collect cash payments, according to statements given to police by his lawyer friend Musharraf alias Parvez, who was briefly detained earlier in the investigation.
Musharraf told investigators that he first met the accused lawyer, Rizwan, in 2022 while doing an internship at the Sohna court. Subsequently, Musharraf started practising law at the Nuh court, whereas Rizwan practised in the Gurugram court. Despite working in different courts, the two remained in regular professional contact, handled cases together, and socialised on multiple occasions.
According to Musharraf’s account, in July he and Rizwan drove together in Musharraf’s car to the Wagah border area near Amritsar. They visited the Golden Temple, where Rizwan received a bag containing cash from individuals who arrived on a two-wheeler. Musharraf stated that he was unable to identify those persons. On the return journey, the two lawyers met with a road accident in Amritsar, compelling them to abandon the damaged vehicle and continue home by train.
Musharraf further disclosed that on August 1 they travelled again to Amritsar to retrieve the crashed car. That evening they checked into a hotel, but Rizwan left the premises at night, informing Musharraf that he was going to collect money.
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During police interrogation, it emerged that Rizwan had visited Amritsar on seven separate occasions to receive cash from individuals arriving in a Scorpio and a Skoda vehicle. Rizwan has reportedly confessed to collecting a total of Rs 41 lakh in cash on these trips, which he subsequently handed over to a contact named Ajay Arora.
Investigators established that Rizwan operated two bank accounts: one with Punjab National Bank in Tauru and another with IndusInd Bank in Sohna. The Punjab National Bank account was closed a few months ago after it exceeded permissible limits, officials said. They added that crores of rupees in hawala money originating from Pakistani handlers had been routed into this account, a substantial portion of which was allegedly used to bolster terrorist networks operating in Punjab.
Musharraf told police that he had no knowledge of the precise amounts deposited into Rizwan’s bank accounts. Forensic examination of Rizwan’s laptop and mobile phone has revealed several suspicious financial transactions, according to officials.
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Officials confirmed that Musharraf and Rizwan spoke on the phone shortly before Rizwan’s arrest. Musharraf was initially taken into custody by Nuh police on the same day but was released four days later after investigating agencies found no evidence connecting him to the espionage activities.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Nuh police, which is probing the Pakistan-linked espionage case, has so far arrested three additional individuals from Amritsar—Sandeep Singh alias Gagan, Amandeep Singh, and Jaskaran Singh—on charges of transferring crores of rupees from Pakistani handlers to Rizwan via hawala networks and funding anti-national activities in Punjab.
Multiple teams from Nuh police are currently carrying out raids across various locations in Punjab in connection with the ongoing investigation.
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