Sleuths access information about Han Junwe's Nepal and Bhutan connections

Not just Bangladesh, sleuths probing the case of suspected Chinese spy Han Junwe, who is behind bars, say the person had an active network in both Nepal and Bhutan.

Kolkata: Not just Bangladesh; Sleuths probing the case of suspected Chinese spy Han Junwe, who is behind bars, say the person had an active network in both Nepal and Bhutan.

At the same time, the investigating officers are also trying to connect the dots about Han's next hacking target, which could have been Bengaluru-based Alfa Design, a private firm dealing with outsourced assignments for the Defence Ministry. Han is currently under the custody of the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal police.

"Through a thorough interrogation of Han for the last few days, we have got some definite clues which say that besides Bangladesh, he was also active in setting up his network in Nepal and Bhutan. He had visited both these countries quite a number of times. There is a possibility that Han was trying to establish links with the underground terrorist groups in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan," a senior official of the state police said on condition of strict anonymity.

At the same time, inputs received from Han's interrogation has also raised one glaring question which is how far the websites of agencies associated with the nation's defence and security services are immune to hacking by such cyber-expert spies. The investigating sleuths suspect that in all probability Han's next hacking target was Bengaluru-based Alfa Design, a private firm dealing with outsourced assignments for the Defence Ministry.

Mohammad Reza, an ethical hacker by profession, explained how the websites of these crucial organizations can be protected. "Each of these organisations, who are directly associated or have been outsourced by the defence ministry, should employ multiple specialised cyber experts to update the anti-hacking protections for their websites on a regular basis. If the digital systems of these websites are updated on a regular basis then the risk of hacking comes down substantially," he said.

In the meantime, the probe officials have been able to unlock the password of his I-phone. However, they are yet to succeed in unlocking Han's high-end laptop.

Sources said that following the uncloaking of his mobile it has been revealed that he used to call or send WhatsApp messages to different international numbers. "He used to converse both in English and Mandarin languages. At the same time, he used multiple email IDs. Some of the numbers saved in his mobile are registered in Nepal," a probe official said.

Already the sleuths of the Intelligence Bureau are in touch with the state STF officials and in the next phase probably Han will be interrogated by IB officials.