West Bengal STF arrests three in Coochbehar over suspected Pakistan-ISI links
West Bengal police have arrested three individuals in Coochbehar for alleged links to the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI. The suspects were reportedly involved in smuggling SIM cards and running a counterfeit currency racket.
Why it matters
The arrests underscore ongoing national security concerns regarding cross-border espionage and illegal activities in Indian border regions.
Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police on Saturday (August 15, 2026) arrested three people from Coochbehar’s Sahebganj for suspected association with the Pakistan-based intelligence unit, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The development comes only three days after the STF also held two people including a Pakistani national Rana Rauf from North 24 Parganas’s Bongaon for allegedly spying on the Indian Railway Services and Indian Army on behalf of ISI since 2012. Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Police in Karnataka also arrested another resident of North 24 Parganas, Asaful Mallick, for allegedly planning to undergo terrorist training by the Afghanistan-based terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and target the Pakistan Army.
According to the officials, the three accused had been identified as Rashidul and Nasiruddin, residents of Sahebganj under Coochbehar’s Dinhata II block, and Safikul, a resident of Bihar’s Kishanganj.
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