Armyman, associate held on espionage charge in Amritsar
Amritsar, June 23 -- An armyman posted in Jammu and his aide have been arrested for their alleged involvement in espionage activities linked to Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday.
Yadav said one of the accused has been identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopy Fojia, resident of Dhariwal in Amritsar serving in the Indian Army in Jammu. His associate has been identified as Sahil Masih who also belongs to Dhariwal, the police chief said.
In a release issued here, Yadav said that preliminary investigation revealed that Gurpreet was in direct contact with operatives of the Pakistan 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, he added.
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 arrested accused persons. 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 (SSP) Amritsar rural, Maninder Singh said Gurpreet joined 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 that 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 SSP said in lieu of this espionage activity, 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 arrested Gurpreet and his associate Sahil Masih, while they were attempting another handover of sensitive data, he said.
He added that further investigations are in progress to unravel the wider nexus and identify additional conspirators, both domestic and foreign-based.
A case under Sections 3, 5, and 9 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at Lopoke police station in Amritsar Rural, said officials.
A string of espionage cases
This arrest adds to a growing list of similar cases in recent weeks in Punjab. The police apprehended multiple individuals allegedly involved in espionage, including Gagandeep Singh from Tarn Taran on June 3 and Jasbir Singh from Ropar on June 4. Jasbir was allegedly a close aide of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was previously arrested by the Haryana Police.
Other recent arrests include Guzala and Yameen Mohammad, who were arrested on May 11 from Malerkotla. They were allegedly aiding a Pakistani official at the high commission in Delhi, and Neeraj Kumar, a 28-year-old salesman from Pathankot, arrested on May 22 for issuing fraudulent SIM cards.
On May 13, Raqeeb Khan, a tailor from Bathinda Cantonment, was arrested for spying for Pakistan, becoming the second civilian from the cantonment area to be implicated in espionage, after Sunil Kumar, a cobbler from Bihar, who was arrested on April 29.
On May 3, Palak Sher Masih and Suraj Masih were arrested in Amritsar for allegedly photographing and transmitting sensitive information regarding army cantonments and airbases....
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