PUNE, India, 14 March 2008 — Convicted Pakistani spy Sayeed Ahmed Mohammed Desai tried to recruit agents for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during his term in Yerawada prison.

Desai, who went missing from Pune police custody earlier this year, was recaptured in Kolkata last month. A list of 77 names was recovered from his possession by police during interrogation after his re-arrest.

Inspector Bhanu Pratap Barge, the officer investigating the case, said that Desai was to give the names of these 77 people — facing trial on various charges — their addresses and contact numbers to ISI after reaching Pakistan.

Desai had plans to return to India with a different identity and carry out operations with the help of the these inmates, most of whom are involved in petty crimes and could have agreed to work for ISI for small cash rewards, Barge said.

Investigations also revealed that Desai was a known figure among the Pakistan Military Intelligence officers. “The ISI was to pay him four million Indian rupees on submission of the list of the 77 inmates. The ISI also paid a fixed amount to Desai’s family in Pakistan while he was in the Yerawada prison in Pune for eight years,” Barge added.

The list of inmates included a Bangladeshi infiltrator, who was jailed at Yerawada prison and later deported to Bangladesh.

Barge said that Desai planned to cross over into Bangladesh through the land border and then move to Pakistan with the help of the Bangladeshi.

Police interrogation of prison witnesses also established the fact that Desai convinced former Indian Army soldier Shailesh Jadhav to work for ISI. Jadhav and Desai shared a common canteen and lived in adjoining barracks in the prison.

Police also recovered an e-mail saying “Uncle Desai had collected good information in jail” that was sent to ISI by Jadhav after he was released from prison. Desai was fondly called “Uncle” in jail and he used to interact with all types of criminals including notorious gangsters, Barge said.

India Explains Mehmood’s Death

Meanwhile, India said yesterday that a Pakistani who went to India to watch a cricket match in 2005 but was later arrested and died in an Indian prison was found with “sensitive documents” and was not tortured.

Pakistan said Wednesday it had asked India to explain why the man, Khalid Mehmood, was arrested and died in “mysterious circumstances” in an Indian prison on Feb. 12.

Mehmood’s body was sent back to Pakistan on Monday and one of his brothers told Reuters Mehmood had lost his passport while in India for the cricket match and was later arrested and accused of being a spy.

Indian authorities had not informed the family of how Mehmood had died but his body bore signs of torture, the brother said.

India’s High Commission in Islamabad said in a statement that Mehmood was arrested May 17, 2006, more than a year after his four-day cricket visa had expired.

“Sensitive documents were recovered from Mehmood’s possession, which he was carrying to Delhi to deliver to some persons who were traveling to Pakistan,” the High Commission said. It did not elaborate on the nature of the documents.

Mehmood developed an abdominal complaint and had been transferred to a top hospital for treatment but died, the High Commission said.

“It is emphasized that no torture was inflicted upon Mr. Mehmood while he was a pre-trial prisoner,” it said.

Politicizing the case and suppressing the facts would only increase the anguish for his bereaved family, the High Commission said. “Someone must explain why he disappeared and what the real purpose of his travel was,” it said.

A Pakistan spokesman said on Wednesday while Pakistan was seeking a thorough investigation, the case would not affect a peace process the neighbors launched in early 2004.

— With input from agencies