Written by Aditi RajaVadodara | December 31, 2025 04:25 AM IST 3 min readBarot added that the government also informed the court that Pal allegedly began another business in an assumed name as 'Priya Thakur'. “For this, she also acquired the OTP through from neighbour's phone... Moreover, several other accused are wanted in the case....” Barot said.THE NADIAD Sessions court in Kheda on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of alleged Pakistani spy Rashmani Pal in an espionage case lodged by Gujarat ATS earlier in December. Pal, who is accused of being a conduit of Pakistani handlers and allegedly honey-trapping army jawans to reveal locations of their units, had “befriended” some men in a village in Kheda district, where she had a parcel from Pakistan delivered – setting Intelligence agencies and the Gujarat Police on the trail.Public Prosecutor Dhaval Barot said on Tuesday that the Nadiad sessions court had considered the arguments of the government that Pal could derail the investigation in the case by “destroying sensitive evidence” if she is granted bail. Barot said, “The investigators have found direct WhatsApp and other text communication between Pal and the Pakistani handlers, who are seeking information of the army unit movements through the jawans she has engaged in conversations… We also informed the court that she had assumed multiple fake identities to establish contact with 16 army jawans and regularly sought information from them.”Barot said that although Pal hails from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh and was residing in Dadar and Nagar Haveli at the time of her arrest, she had befriended men from Kachhai village in Kheda district to help her in handling her social media account. Barot said, “The investigation has found that she delegated the handling of her social media accounts to other people to avoid detection… She had established contact with a person from Kacchai village to handle her social media account and upload high resolution videos… Thereafter, she came in contact with other friends of the person, who told her that a high speed internet router was needed for the work.”It was then that a parcel from an undisclosed location in Pakistan arrived in Kheda and was intercepted by the agencies. “The security intelligence began probing the parcel as there was no one in the village, who had a Pakistani connection… The trail then led the Gujarat ATS to Pal. It has been established so far that she was in direct contact with the Pakistani handlers, particularly Abdul Sattar, whom she had befriended earlier on social media.”Barot added that the government also informed the court that Pal allegedly began another business in an assumed name as ‘Priya Thakur’. “For this, she also acquired the OTP through from neighbour’s phone… Moreover, several other accused are wanted in the case….” Barot said.According to the ATS case, ISI operatives, such Abdul Sattar and Khalid, allegedly offered Pal “financial benefits” in exchange for creating a fake identity and forging friendships with Indian Army personnel identified by the ISI. Pal had been handed the task to extract confidential military information from the army officers regarding “movement of army units, exercises and strategy” with the intention to “launch an attack on the Indian Army”.Pal and another arrested co-accused, Ajaykumar Singh from Goa, have been booked for criminal conspiracy and committing offence against the state. Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues. Expertise: Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including: Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground. Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure. Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case). Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions. Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... 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