E-Paper
20-year-old college dropout arrested for spying in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra
Mobile phone sent for forensic examination after police find sensitive content that falls under purview of Section 152, BNS, for acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
A 20-year-old college dropout, Abhishek Bhardwaj, was arrested at Sukahar in Dehra sub division of Kangra district on suspicion of spying after sensitive and objectionable content was found on his mobile phone, police said on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off that he had been providing intelligence information to Pakistan, the police had been monitoring Abhishek’s activities over the past few days before they arrested him from his house on Wednesday. He was interrogated at the Dehra police station and booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
Dehra superintendent of police (SP) Mayank Chaudhary said: “After we got an input about Abhishek’s activities, we kept him under close surveillance. We have found sensitive videos and photos on his mobile phone, which has been seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for further analysis.”
A special team was formed under the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Dadaseeba. It had been monitoring the suspect for several days, collecting intelligence and keeping a watch.
This is the first such arrest in Himachal Pradesh as part of a larger crackdown on espionage networks after Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 in response to an April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people. Since then, at least seven suspects have been arrested in Punjab and Haryana for alleged spying activities for Pakistan.
