Punjab police bust cross-border espionage network, 1 held for spying for ISI

Punjab Police has busted a cross border espionage network on Wednesday and arrested a man who was spying for Pak ISI. The 35-year-old man arrested by the State Special Operation Cell of Amritsar has been identified as Mandeep Singh and is a resident of Sirsa, Haryana.

Pathankot:In its persistent drive to shatter the nexus of Pakistan ISI and traitorous persons who supply classified information with the iniquitous designs to compromise sovereignty, integrity and security of the state, Punjab Police has busted a cross border espionage network on Wednesday and arrested a man who was spying for Pak ISI.

The 35-year-old man arrested by the State Special Operation Cell of Amritsar has been identified as Mandeep Singh and is a resident of Sirsa, Haryana.

He is currently working at a stone crusher unit in Pathankot situated near the Cantonment area. Based on a sensitive location, he could easily keep an eye on the military movements in the area and was passing on the information to his Pak-based handlers. In lieu of the information, he has been paid money by the Pakistan agencies.

During the preliminary investigations, it has come to light that the accused came in touch with a lady Pakistan Intelligence Officer (PIO) namely Neha Singh through Facebook, a year ago, who posed as an IT professional working in a Bangalore based IT unit of Indian Army.

After connecting through Facebook and Messenger, they shifted to WhatsApp and other private messaging and calling apps. The accused was in touch with the PIO on one UK based phone number and two Indian numbers.

It has been revealed that the accused was allured by the PIO into espionage activities and he was tasked by her to gather and share information about Pathankot, Amritsar Cantonments and Pathankot airbase. The accused ended up sharing some classified documents and photographs of Cantt. areas via encrypted apps.

During preliminary inspection of his mobile phone, many classified documents and photographs have been found. In lieu of the job he did for Pak ISI, the PIO paid him money through various means. He also helped her to configure another WhatsApp based on an Indian phone number.

"A case has been registered under the relevant sections of IPC. Further investigations are being carried out to unearth this espionage network. He will be produced in the court for police remand in due course. Two criminal cases under sections 323, 325, 506, 34 IPC stand registered against Mandeep Singh in Police Station City Sirsa," a statement said released by the police.

It is worth mentioning that this is the second case registered by SSOC Amritsar in connection with espionage activities in the last three days.

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