Ex-army man admits to spying for Pakistan

An ex-serviceman arrested by Indian anti-terror agents in Uttar Pradesh has admitted he passed on sensitive military information to his handlers in Pakistan.

Lucknow:Former serviceman, apprehended by Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on espionage charges, confessed that he was lured into honey trap and was reportedly passing sensitive Army's information to a Pakistan Inter-Service Intelligence. The accused, identified as Saurabh Sharma, revealed that he came in touch on Facebook with Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO) in 2014 who initially introduced herself as a defence journalist.

Two days back, ATS police arrested two persons, an ex-serviceman and a Godhra-based woman, for allegedly spying for Pakistan and sharing the Army's sensitive information with the intelligence agency of the neighbouring country.

Police made the arrest acting on a tip-off that Saurabh Sharma of Bahuni village under Bahadurgarh police station in Hapur district, was passing on Army's secret information to Pakistan Inter-Service Intelligence.

Sharma has accepted his involvement with the Pakistani intelligence agency, UP Police said in a release.

"He revealed that he came in touch Subsequently, by 2016 he started sharing several sensitive military information in return for money. He used to share this information in form of text, audio and photo messages and also on call mostly using WhatsApp," the release said.

"It is reported that he has received several payments from his handlers. The soldier was discharged from the Army in June 2020 for medical reasons. Traces of his activities have been found in his mobile phone," it added.

Sharma has been booked under various sections of Official Secrets Act (OSA), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and IPC. Following his arrest, Sharma was interrogated at the ATS headquarters here and he admitted that he had been passing on information for money to a Pakistani woman from time to time, the release said, adding he used to get money in his account for it.

On Sharma's information, an ATS team also arrested the woman, identified as Anas Gitauli, a resident of Panchmahal of Godhra in Gujarat. Anas, whose elder brother Imran Gitauli was arrested last year on September 14 for allegedly working for Pakistan's ISI, also used to send money to Sharma, the release said.

The police will produce Saurabh Sharma in the court to secure his police custody and the second accused would be brought here from Godhra on transit remand, the ATS added. Sharma's mobile phone has been confiscated and has been sent to the forensic team to determine the nature of information passed on to Gitauli.

With agency inputs