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Ghaziabad: Nine more people, including four juveniles, held in connection with spying case
Ghaziabad police arrested four more suspects and five minors in a case involving sharing sensitive info with overseas contacts via CCTV installations.
Ghaziabad: A special investigation team (SIT) probing the case of sharing sensitive information with overseas numbers, arrested four more people and apprehended five minors on Friday following revelations made by the six previously arrested suspects currently in police custody, the Ghaziabad police said.
The four people arrested were identified as Ganesh Giri, 20, Vivek Rai, 18, Gagan Prajapati, 22, and Durgesh Nishad, 26.
Additional commissioner of police, Raj Karan Nayyar said Naushad Ali and Sameer Ali are among the accused and absconding.
On March 14, police arrested the six suspects, including a woman, from Bhowapur in Kaushambi, for allegedly filming public places and security establishments with their mobile phones and sharing them with overseas contacts. They were booked under Sections 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS, and under Sections 3/5 of the Official Secrets Act, at Kaushambi police station.
“During the interrogation, it came to light that the suspects were given tasks by their foreign handlers to install solar-powered, SIM-based, standalone CCTV cameras. The SIT recovered two such CCTVs. The SIT also learnt about the money paid to them and the modus operandi. The probe is underway,” the additional CP added.
An officer aware of the case said the two cameras were installed at Delhi Cantt and Sonipat railway stations, and, on directions from handlers in Pakistan, their feeds were shared with overseas contacts. “The suspects were connected to overseas handlers through WhatsApp groups. They have been operating for the past six months. The suspects purchased these CCTVs locally after receiving money from handlers. A total of 17 names have surfaced so far,” Dhawal Jaiswal, DCP (city zone), told HT.
The officer said the suspects were part of a larger plan and tasked with installing CCTVs at 50 different locations.
“The suspects had also installed an app to share the GPS location. They were trained to install the app and share the details, ” an officer attached to the case said. “The accused sent one-time passwords linked to WhatsApp and other social media platforms overseas while using Indian SIM cards. This enabled the operation of WhatsApp accounts abroad. In exchange, they used to get money ranging from ₹500 to ₹5,000,” the officer said.
The suspects used to get money from agents. “The accused either stole the SIM cards or bought them in the name of their family members,” the officer said.
Police said that the local handlers of the group roped in young men who were not educationally sound but skilled in mobile repairs, CCTV operations, or computer technology, or who were in dire need of money.
