RAW to grill ISI agent, his contacts

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner of police (crime) Surinder Kumar clarified that one of the accused, David Manuel, was a clerk at the Ammunition Ordinance Depot at Dehu Road, and not the Ammunition factory at Khadki as had been carried in certain sections of the press.

According to Kumar, Desai cultivated some of these men to garner whatever intelligence he could but the quality of intelligence was not of a very high quality. “These men are not very important. One of the angles we are exploring is that at the depot they used to note down the arrival and departure of the ammunition and their final destination.”Kumar also said that the other co-accused, Ajay Bhalerao was a driver with a private company and his role in the conduit of information was still under investigation.

Some documents, said police sources, have been recovered from Manuel which indicate that Desai used to pay him regularly. Some names of contacts have also been recovered among which a woman has also been mentioned. The police are also trying to establish the source of money that Desai tapped to pay his Indian contacts. Police say that Desai had a contact in Mumbai, the same man who had helped him set up base in India, who was providing him the money and formed a vital link in the passage of information.

All the accused have been booked under the Official Secrets Act and police believe that further interrogation will reveal the nature and quality of information passed by Desai in the coming days.