Army jawan arrested as Punjab police busts espionage network

The State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar arrested Army jawan Krunal Kumar Baria, a resident of Gujarat, police said.

Amritsar:The Punjab Police on Saturday claimed to have busted an espionage network with the arrest of an Army jawan.

The State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar arrested Army jawan Krunal Kumar Baria, a resident of Gujarat, police said.

He was presently serving at Ferozepur Cantt, they said.

Police claimed that the jawan was in touch with various Pakistan-based ISI agents through social media applications.

Taking advantage of his deployment in the IT cell, he had allegedly been passing highly sensitive and classified information about the Army to his Pakistan-based handlers. He was paid money for the same, they said.

During preliminary investigations, it was found that the accused came in touch with a woman Pakistan Intelligence Officer (PIO) Sidra Khan through Facebook in 2020.

Later, they started communicating through WhatsApp and other private messaging and calling apps. The accused was also in touch with her through mobile phones.

The accused was allegedly allured by the PIO through her tricks to work for Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). As a result of which, the accused shared many classified documents with her via encrypted apps, police said.

During inspection of his mobile phone, many classified documents were found, they said.

A case under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act and IPC has been registered.

The Army authorities have been informed about the jawan's arrest, police added.

PTI