E-Paper
Army jawan held for espionage sent to 4-day police remand
The army jawan was arrested by State Special Operation Cell wing of Punjab Police for allegedly passing highly sensitive and classified information to Pakistan’s ISI
AMRITSAR
The army jawan, who was arrested by the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) wing of Punjab Police for allegedly passing highly sensitive and classified information to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was on Sunday sent to four day police remand.
Krunal Kumar Baria of Panchamahalas in Gujarat, who was serving with the Indian Army at Ferozepur Cantt, was presented before a duty magistrate in Amritsar. The SSOC had demanded his 14-day police custody, but the court granted the permission for only four days.
“He was in touch with various Pak ISI agents through social media apps. Taking advantage of his deployment in the IT cell, he was passing highly sensitive and classified information about the army to his Pak-based handlers. In lieu of the information, he was paid money by Pak agencies,” a spokesperson of the SSOC had said on Saturday.
“During preliminary investigation, it has come to light that the accused came in touch with a woman Pakistani intelligence officer, Sidra Khan, on Facebook in 2020 and on WhatsApp and other messaging and calling apps later. The accused was in touch with the woman on her two Pakistan mobile numbers and an Indian number,” the spokesperson had added.
An SSOC official, who didn’t wish to be named, said on Sunday: “Our so far investigation has found that the army jawan had received ₹10,000 from ISI agents. Our further investigation to ascertain if he had received more money through hawala was still on. He had been passing secret information related to our country’s security to the ISI for the last two years. We are also working to find if more people were in contact with the accused.”
Army and security agencies are also likely to question the accused during his four-day police remand.
