Pakistan’s government has stated that Indian authorities arrested a Pakistani fisherman, Ijaz Mallah, and pressured him into gathering intelligence materials.
Officials say Mallah was detained in September and threatened with years in prison unless he cooperated. His tasks included obtaining Pakistani military uniforms, SIM cards, and everyday items.
After returning to Pakistan, Mallah was monitored by security agencies and arrested while attempting to deliver the items. He stated he acted under threat of imprisonment and promises of reward.
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In a video statement presented by the ministers, Mallah explained that fear of a long jail sentence and offers of financial incentive led him to cooperate. He described receiving instructions through an audio communication link with a handler he believed was from India. Tarar connected this event to the earlier case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, suggesting that India is now targeting ordinary fishermen as a new tactic, having faced difficulties in deploying undercover officers.
Uniforms allegedly recovered from Ijaz Mallah, a Pakistani fisherman detained by security agencies in October 2025, are seen in above screengrabs.
@dawn.today Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that a fisherman from Pakistan was arrested by the Indian coast guard and was coerced into carrying out tasks for the neighbouring country’s intelligence agency. Addressing a press conference in Islamabad alongside Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhary, he said that the Indian media was creating a false narrative in the aftermath of the four-day May conflict with Pakistan. The minister then proceeded to play a purported video of the fisherman, in which the man said he was apprehended by the Indian coast guards when he went fishing in August this year. In the video, the man identified as Mallah detailed that he hailed from the Shah Bandar taluka of Sindh’s Thatta district, with fishing being a family profession. “After catching me, they (Indian coast guards) took me to a jail in an undisclosed location, where I was interrogated by an Indian secret agency’s official,” he said. The man added that the Indian official told him he could face two to three years in jail for the offence he was held. “He (the official) told me that if I worked for them, then they could let me go,” Mallah said. “He also offered me money and gifts, so due to the fear of jail and for the reward, I accepted the offer … then he told me that bring so and so items, some uniforms of Rangers, coast guard, the navy and the army,” he added. Read more: https://www.dawn.com/news/1952553/fisherman-from-pakistan-arrested-coerced-into-carrying-out-tasks-for-indian-intelligence-agency-tarar DawnToday
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