Overview
- Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said Ijaz (Ejaz) Mallah was detained after weeks of surveillance by Pakistani intelligence.
- Officials alleged the fisherman was picked up by the Indian Coast Guard in August or September while fishing in international waters, threatened with two to three years in jail, and promised payment.
- Authorities said he was tasked to buy Pakistan Army, Navy, and Sindh Rangers uniforms with specific name tags, along with local SIM cards, cigarette packs, lighters, and Pakistani currency.
- In a recorded statement played at the briefing, Mallah named an Indian officer identified as Ashok Kumar and described being told to collect three Zong SIMs with corresponding phone bills.
- Tarar linked the episode to a broader propaganda effort he associated with Indian naval activities near Gujarat and Kutch, while noting investigations continue and that no independent verification or Indian response was presented in the reports.