Punjab Police have arrested a 30-year-old woman from Faridkot and booked two serving army personnel for allegedly passing sensitive military information to Pakistani intelligence agencies.
The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Fazilka, registered a case under Sections 3 and 4 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, on Thursday. HT has a copy of the FIR.
The accused have been identified as Gurnoor Sidhu, a resident of Harindra Nagar in Faridkot; Dilpreet Singh of Khukhrana village in Moga district; and Rajbir Singh of Rasulpur village in Tarn Taran district. The FIR identifies Dilpreet Singh and Rajbir Singh as serving army personnel.
Investigators suspect that the two army personnel collected confidential information concerning military cantonments and other defence-related matters and allegedly passed it to Pakistani intelligence and military agencies through the woman.
According to an official familiar with the investigation, an SSOC team led by inspector Satish Kumar received information about the alleged espionage network on Thursday.
Acting on the input, a police team apprehended Gurnoor Sidhu near an under-construction bridge close to a railway crossing on the Ferozepur-Hussainiwala Border Road and recovered a tablet and other material suspected to have been used to transmit sensitive information.
The police are now probing the alleged links between the three accused, and examining the nature of the information allegedly shared, how it was obtained and how it reached Pakistani handlers. The investigation will also seek to establish the extent of any potential compromise of sensitive military information.
{{/usCountry}}The police are now probing the alleged links between the three accused, and examining the nature of the information allegedly shared, how it was obtained and how it reached Pakistani handlers. The investigation will also seek to establish the extent of any potential compromise of sensitive military information.
{{/usCountry}}“The process to arrest the two serving army personnel is underway,” the official said.