Life has become miserable for former Indian agent Daniel, who worked for the notorious Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Pakistan and served a four-year sentence. He now drives a rickshaw while his wife works as a maid to earn some livelihood.

In an interview with the Indian News channel, Pro Punjab, the Indian agent, who now lives in a village bordering Sialkot and Narowal area, sheds light on how RAW tricks people to work against Pakistan.

Daniel said he worked for the RAW on lucrative promises of money and a government job and was smuggled into Pakistan in 1992.

“We used to feel very proud while working for RAW,” he said to a question. However, Daniel added that he felt disheartened when the agency abandoned him.

Daniel terms Pakistani people as ‘warm and friendly’

Daniel travelled across the Pakistani border, 10 times in one year till he got caught in 1993. During interrogation, he did not utter a single word about being a man of RAW in Pakistan.

He and other agents were told to pose as smugglers or act like someone who crossed over to the other side by mistake. The Indian agent was shifted to various jails, before eventually getting released from Kot Lakhpat.

In one of his earlier ventures, he said, he barely escaped the arrest by hiding under a culvert.

About the tasks assigned to him by the RAW, Daniel said he was asked to gather information about the location of various army units and their movements. Sometimes, he was tasked to make contacts with Pakistani working or retired military personnel for information.

Daniel said he and his fellow agents also used to lure Pakistanis to work for RAW. In those days, since only the Indian side was fenced, they faced no problem in smuggling people, as the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) always facilitated them.

He said, after infiltrating into Pakistan, they used to stay with their contact, Lala Bashir, in village Ali Abad near the Jassar railway station.

The agent said, when they used to return to India, the BSF allowed them entry when they used code words. At times, his code word for entering India used to be “kalakar” (performer).

Daniel termed Pakistani people as warm and friendly. He said they shared the gifts brought to them by their family members in jail and treated him well.

‘I feel abandoned and used’

Daniel complained that back in India, no one bothered about him who risked his life for RAW.

Daniel said the RAW paid him only Rs15,000 when he contacted them. During his time in the Pakistani jail, his mother got Rs500 per month.

He recalled that he and another Indian agent – ‘Channa’ who spent 18 years in Pakistani jail – were also taken to New Delhi and asked to carry out bomb explosions in Pakistan. He said when they demanded Rs50lakh in payment, they got no response.

“I feel abandoned and used,” Daniel said.

Daniel admitted that New Delhi keeps sending spies to Pakistan, but Pakistan never sends any to India.

Pakistan believes India is supporting a separatist insurgency in Balochistan. It also accuses India of fuelling strife in the city of Karachi. India denies any such meddling. However, time and again, Indian agents like Daniel and Kulbhushan Jadhav reveal the evil aims of RAW in Pakistan.