Sources said Ravi Kumar, who came in contact with ISI nearly six months ago, had received about Rs 70,000 so far “through bank transactions”, of which nearly Rs 40,000 was given for his Dubai trip in February. Sources said Ravi Kumar, who came in contact with ISI nearly six months ago, had received about Rs 70,000 so far “through bank transactions”, of which nearly Rs 40,000 was given for his Dubai trip in February.

The interrogation of a Moga youth, who was allegedly honey-trapped by an ISI agent on Facebook before being nabbed in a joint operation of the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Punjab Police, has revealed that he had been instructed by his ISI handlers to undertake assassinations in Punjab which would stoke communal passions, sources said.

ISI handlers of Ravi Kumar had promised him Rs 5 lakh for every assassination that would attract international attention as well as degrade the communal harmony in the state, sources said.

A court in Amritsar, where Ravi Kumar was produced after his arrest, had remanded him to State Special Operations Cell’s custody for five days, which ends on Wednesday.

According to sources, the youth was also tasked with carrying out sabotage of key infrastructure in the state, including removing fish plates of railway tracks in order to cause accidents and to create panic among the general public. “When he visited Dubai in February, he was given training on removing fish plates of the railway track to derail trains. He was shown video explaining the removal of fish plates in detail. He was also shown videos of movements of Army columns and was promised Rs 10,000 each for similar videos,” said a source, adding that Ravi who worked as salesman with a soft drink company near his village Dhaleke in Moga district had “planned to open a soft drink/tea shop in Ferozepur cantonment area to track Army movement as directed by ISI”.

Sources said Ravi, who came in contact with ISI nearly six months ago, had received about Rs 70,000 so far “through bank transactions”, of which nearly Rs 40,000 was given for his Dubai trip in February. He visited Dubai from February 20 to 24.

Sources in the Army said the Facebook honeytrap was busted by a counter-intelligence unit which had been keeping an eye on such activities after a Group Captain of the Indian Air Force (IAF) was arrested in February this year for passing on sensitive information to ISI agents posing as a woman on the Facebook.

A senior MI officer said Ravi Kumar had also been given specific tasks to perform in Jammu and Kashmir. This entailed getting information on all Army Air Defence Units moving to and from J&K, checking the status of surrendered terrorists in the valley and to confirm the news of civilians moving out of villages in Kupwara sector due to ceasefire violations at the Line of Control (LoC).

“Ravi Kumar was asked to make a fake Facebook profile in the name of a woman and to make specific attempts to befriend military personnel, particularly lower-rank personnel who worked as clerks in Army units. This was because most such personnel handle sensitive files relating to troops movements, scale of ammunition held, operational plans etc,” said a senior officer.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.