J&K Police Arrest Kathua Truck Driver for ISI-Linked Border Surveillance

Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested a 24-year-old truck driver from Kathua for allegedly operating a live surveillance feed for Pakistani handlers, in a case registered under the Official Secrets Act. The arrest followed a joint operation by the police and intelligence agencies.

The accused, identified as Aman, was allegedly drawn in through social media by operatives linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. Once in contact, he was reportedly tasked with carrying out reconnaissance of military installations and logistical routes along the sensitive Kathua border belt.

Investigators say the key evidence was not photographs but hardware. During questioning, police found that Aman had installed a SIM-enabled CCTV camera outside his house, positioned to cover a road frequently used by security forces near the border. The camera allegedly streamed footage live to his handlers. He was paid Rs 20,000 for the installation, with the payment routed through a Dubai-based channel.

"His mobile phone has been seized and forensic analysis is under way," a senior police officer said.

The case marks the second alleged ISI network dismantled in the Jammu region in four months, indicating a shift from simple photo-sharing to round-the-clock digital surveillance.

In May, police arrested 23-year-old Karan Kumar, a school dropout from Makwal village in Jammu, on similar charges. He was allegedly lured on Snapchat by a woman posing as a Border Security Force jawan posted in Punjab. The contact reportedly involved explicit video calls, after which his mother's WhatsApp OTP was used to hijack his account. He was then allegedly asked to send photographs of bunkers and flyovers for Rs 2,000.

Another module was busted in Pathankot, where a man was arrested for installing a CCTV camera outside a shop in Sujanpur overlooking the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, a key route for Army movement towards Kashmir, to stream convoy movements to Pakistan.

Police have issued a fresh advisory warning young people in border areas about fake female profiles on Snapchat, Messenger and Instagram posing as BSF personnel, Kashmiri women or job agents, and luring them with money and obscene content to extract sensitive information.