On Tuesday, the Punjab Police arrested two soldiers for their involvement in an alleged cross-border espionage network and conspiring with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
According to the reports, the Punjab police busted the espionage network with the arrest of two Army personnel — Sepoy Harpreet Singh and Sepoy Gurbhej Singh. The 23-year-old Sepoy Harpreet Singh from Amritsar was posted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag and belonged to 19 Rashtriya Rifles, and 23-year-old Sepoy Gurbhej Singh from Tarn Taran was working as a clerk in Kargil and belonged to 18 Sikh Light Infantry.
The Punjab Police said both the accused have been charged with spying for Pakistan’s ISI, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Official Secrets Act. Harpreet Singh had joined the Army in 2017, while Gurbhej Singh had joined in 2015.
In a press statement, Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said the Jalandhar Rural Police, led by SSP Naveen Singla, had received confidential information related to the deployment and functioning of the Indian Army from a cross-border drug smuggler named Ranvir Singh, who was arrested earlier in May.
During the interrogation, Ranvir had admitted that he had obtained the documents from Harpreet. Both Harpreet and Ranvir belong to the same village and were known to each other.
The two Sikh soldiers provided classified information to Pakistan: Punjab Police
The DGP said that Ranvir motivated and lured Sepoy Harpreet Singh with financial benefits for sharing defense-related classified documents. Harpreet then involved his friend Sepoy Gurbhej in activities of espionage for monetary benefits, said DGP Gupta. He said that as Gurbhej was working as a clerk at the 121 Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Kargil, he had access to Indian Army documents containing strategic information regarding movement, deployment and other activities.
According to police, the two Gurbhej and Harpreet together shared images of more than 900 classified documents for the last six months with their accomplice Ranvir, who relayed the information to Pakistan’s ISI.
The DGP said Ranvir Singh collected classified documents from Harpreet and sent them to either the Pakistan ISI operatives directly or via another operative named Gopi, who has been identified as the main drug smuggler from Dauke village in Amritsar.
Gopi has extensive links with Pakistan-based drug-smuggling syndicates and ISI officials, said the Punjab Police Chief.
Following Ranvir Singh’s disclosures, the police have also nabbed ISI operative Gopi, who has confessed to having transferred classified documents to Pakistan-based drug smugglers to one Kothar, and an ISI operative identified as Sikander. Sikander is a drug peddler and supplies heroin, the DGP said, adding that all the pictures of the classified documents were transmitted over encrypted apps.
