The West Bengal Police on Wednesday, 19 August confirmed that the Special Task Force (STF) has arrested Zafar Sams alias Sunny, the third local associate of suspected Pakistani spy Wahab Alam, who allegedly has links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Alam was arrested earlier this month from Habra in North 24 Parganas district after allegedly entering India illegally through Nepal in 2012.

Who Is Zafar Sams and Where Was He Caught

Sunny, an original resident of Topsia in East Kolkata, had been absconding since Alam's arrest. STF sleuths eventually tracked him down and made the arrest in Rishra, Hooghly district. State police have not disclosed the precise time of arrest or additional operational details.

Investigators are currently interrogating Sunny to establish the extent of his role in Alam's alleged activities. 'We doubt Sunny played a role in strengthening the sleeper cell or network that Alam was forming to smuggle secret information from India to ISI,' a state police officer said.

The Expanding Network: Earlier Arrests

Sunny's arrest is the latest in a rapidly widening crackdown. Two days prior, Imran Hosain, identified as a second associate of Alam, was detained from his residence in Topsia. Before that, Mohammad Izaz — described as Alam's closest associate — was also picked up from the same locality. According to investigators, Alam had been living at Izaz's home and Izaz allegedly arranged Indian identity documents for the Pakistani national.

Separately, on the night of 14 August, STF personnel arrested three other suspected Pakistani operatives — all Indian citizens — from the Sahebganj area in the India-Bangladesh border district of Cooch Behar. The three have been identified as Rashidul Haque, Nur Nasiruddin Ali, and Shafiqul Islam.

NIA Steps In

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun gathering information about Wahab Alam following the STF's preliminary findings pointing to ISI links. The NIA has contacted the Bengal STF to obtain case details and intelligence gathered so far.

According to reports, the NIA plans to interrogate Alam and Izaz, and if the investigation warrants it, Hosain and the three individuals arrested from Cooch Behar as well. The NIA's entry signals that the case is being elevated from a state-level operation to a central counter-intelligence matter.

Significance and What Comes Next

This is the third confirmed arrest of a local associate in a single ISI-linked network operating out of Kolkata — a notable cluster in what authorities describe as an active sleeper-cell structure. The STF reportedly pieced together Sunny's identity only after conducting integrated interrogations of Alam, Izaz, and Hosain, first separately and then jointly. With the NIA now involved, the investigation is expected to widen further, potentially surfacing additional nodes in the alleged network.