A Punjab resident has been arrested by Rajasthan's CID (Intelligence) for allegedly collecting classified information regarding the Indian Army and passing it over to a Pakistani handler, officials reportedly said on Monday.
The Ferozepur resident, identified as Prakash Singh alias Badal, was detained near a military establishment in Ganganagar, and later arrested under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, news agency PTI reported, citing officials.
Inspector General (Intelligence) Prafful Kumar said that the CID had been monitoring suspected espionage activity linked to Pakistani intelligence agencies when Badal came under their radar.
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"During surveillance, it emerged that Prakash Singh was in contact with Pakistan's ISI through social media. He was gathering sensitive information linked to the army in Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat and sending it to a Pakistani handler," Kumar said.
The 34-year-old was seen near Ganganagar's Sadulwali military station on November 27, officials said. A border intelligence team then picked him up, following which a preliminary check of his mobile number revealed that he was actively in contact with foreign and Pakistani WhatsApp numbers.
{{/usCountry}}The 34-year-old was seen near Ganganagar's Sadulwali military station on November 27, officials said. A border intelligence team then picked him up, following which a preliminary check of his mobile number revealed that he was actively in contact with foreign and Pakistani WhatsApp numbers.
{{/usCountry}}Badal had reportedly been in touch with the ISI since May this year and had allegedly shared details about Army vehicles, military installations, border-area geography, railway lines, bridges and ongoing construction projects, the officer added.
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The CID also learnt that Badal was allegedly involved in helping the creation of several Indian WhatsApp accounts for the Pakistani handlers. He allegedly got one-time passwords (OTPs) sent to Indian mobile numbers and gave them to the Pakistan-based operatives to activate WhatsApp accounts for espionage and other anti-national activities, officials added.
Badal reportedly received money for all of these things.
The probing department said that following extensive questioning at the central interrogation centre in Jaipur and a technical analysis of his devices, the allegations against Badal were confirmed.
Further investigation into the matter is underway.
Last week, police in Haryana's Nuh arrested a lawyer for allegedly spying and passing information to Pakistan's ISI.
The arrest was made on the basis of an input by a central investigative agency, officials said, news agency PTI reported. The lawyer was said to have been practising in the Gurugram court.