Army personnel, aide held on espionage charges for Pakistan's ISI

Chandigarh, June 22 (IANS) Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Sunday that in a major counter-espionage operation, Amritsar Rural Police have arrested an Indian Army personnel and his aide suspected of espionage activities linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

India- Army personnel, aide held on charges of espionage for Pakistan’s ISI Chandigarh, June 22 (IANS) In a major counter-espionage operation, Amritsar Rural Police has arrested an Indian Army personnel and his aide suspected of espionage activities linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said here on Sunday. The accused have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopy Foji and his associate Sahil Masih, alias Shali, both residents of Dhariwal in Amritsar. The former is currently posted in Jammu. DGP Yadav said preliminary investigation said Gurpreet Singh was in direct contact with operatives of the ISI and is suspected of sharing sensitive and confidential information via pen drives. The key ISI handler involved in the case has been identified as Rana Javed. The DGP said two mobile phones containing virtual numbers, reportedly used to communicate with ISI operatives, have been recovered from the possession of both the accused. Further investigations are underway to dismantle the broader espionage-terror network and identify all collaborators in this case, he said. Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (Amritsar Rural) Maninder Singh said accused Gurpreet Singh was recruited into the Army in 2016 and systematically exploited his official position to collect, store, and transmit classified military information via pen drives and discs. The espionage network was reportedly facilitated by an acquaintance identified as Arjan, a Dubai-based drug trafficker from Dhariwal, who introduced Gurpreet to ISI operatives five months ago, he said, adding since then Gurpreet has actively engaged in the unauthorised collection and relay of sensitive military data to the ISI using pre-decided drop locations. The Senior Superintendent of Police said in lieu of this espionage activity accused Gurpreet was receiving monetary compensation through a complex financial network involving intermediary bank accounts of friends, relatives, and foreign associates to evade detection. In an intelligence-led operation, police teams have arrested the duo while they were attempting another handover of sensitive data. He said further investigations are in progress to unravel the wider nexus and identify additional conspirators, both domestic and foreign-based. A case has been registered under Sections 3, 5, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the police station in Lopoke in Amritsar district. –IANS vg/