Siliguri, Jan. 27: Abdul Salaam, the spy arrested two days ahead of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s visit here, was funded by the ISI to recruit people in north Bengal, said sources at the Special Services Bureau.

The SSB has reportedly chanced upon vital information about an ISI-backed “recruitment drive” in north Bengal, reminiscent of the network set up by Md. Dilshad who was arrested last year.

Salaam and eight others were intercepted by the SSB close to the Indo-Nepal border in Panitanki on January 13. None of them had any passport or valid travel documents.

SSB deputy inspector-general Tshering Namgyal told The Telegraph: “Salaam told us that he used to recruit people for the ISI from north Bengal and adjoining areas and take them to eastern Nepal for training. He also admitted having used the Dhaka-Kathmandu air route twice for this purpose. He will be handed over to the Kharibari police.”

“We have recovered a diary from his possession of Salaam that contains telephone numbers of people based in Karachi and some of his contacts in West Asia. We are now trying to establish his nationality and find out what he did for the ISI.”