‘ISI spy’ was planning to visit Pakistan through Kartarpur Corridor: Probe
Punjab Police’s state special operation cell has also zeroed in on two accomplices of the accused, including a Delhi-based man and a Chandigarh resident
Tapinder Singh, who was on Thursday arrested from his residence in Sector 40, Chandigarh, on suspicions of spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was planning to visit Pakistan to meet his handler, investigators said.
“His handler in Pakistan had asked him to visit the country through Kartarpur Corridor in a recent WhatsApp chat. He told him that he was recently deputed at the corridor and they will meet soon,” said an officer of Punjab Police’s state special operation cell (SSOC), privy to the probe.
Meanwhile, SSOC has also zeroed in on two accomplices of Tapinder, including a Delhi-based man and a Chandigarh resident. “We have nominated his accomplices in the FIR. Our teams will nab them soon,” shared the officer.
Tapinder was on Monday produced before a Mohali court that extended his police remand till December 21 to establish his local and foreign links.
He was arrested on Thursday on allegations of providing ISI sensitive documents, locations and other information about police stations and army bases in India, posing threat to the country’s national security.
According to SSOC assistant inspector general of police (AIG) Ashwani Kapoor, Tapinder was arrested following secret information about his espionage activities. Two mobile phones, containing his WhatsApp chats with ISI agents, photographs and locations of various police stations and videos of recce of the SSOC building that were further sent to the ISI agents, were also recovered.
However, his family was not aware of his actions, as per sources. A double post-graduate in political science and Punjabi from Panjab University, he is facing a case under Sections 3 (spying), 4 (communications with foreign agents to be evidence of commission of certain offences), 5 (wrongful communication, etc., of information) and 9 (attempts, incitements, etc.) of the Official Secrets Act.
