Punjab Police bust espionage ring, one arrested

Chandigarh, March 15 (IANS) The Punjab Police's intelligence wing has busted an espionage ring in the state with the arrest of a Military Engineering Services employee posted in the crucial Jalandhar cantonment, a police spokesman said here on Friday.

"Acting on specific inputs provided by reliable sources and sister agencies, the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) of the intelligence wing has arrested an espionage agent," the spokesman said.

The arrested agent was identified as Ram Kumar, who was working as an electrician with the MES in Jalandhar cantonment since 2013.

"He was befriended on social media by a Pakistan-based intelligence operative and asked to provide information of Indian Army units located along India-Pakistan border and even movement of army convoys in the area. He was also asked to provide details of specific army units," the spokesman said.

Kumar has confessed to having passed sensitive military information to his Pakistani handler over social media platforms, he added.

"Apart from providing information, he had provided mobile numbers of military officers to Pakistani intelligence operatives. In lieu of providing information, he has been paid money on more than one occasion," the spokesman said.

"Post the Pulwama (February 14 terror attack) incident, his handlers had become particularly inquisitive about the movement of army units," he added.

Two mobile phones and four SIM cards have been recovered from Kumar, who was produced in court on Friday "to seek police remand for unearthing the complete espionage racket active in the state", he said.

An FIR has been registered against the accused under various sections of the Official Secrets Act and the Indian Penal Code. Further investigations are on to check his social media contacts, he added.