New Delhi: A 26-year-old man from Samastipur in Bihar has been arrested by the Punjab Police on charges of spying for Pakistan. This development comes days after the April 22 terror attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 persons, most of them tourists from across the country, dead.
The massacre has led to global outrage and a diplomatic and military stand-off between India and Pakistan.
According to the police, Sunil Kumar Ram worked as a cobbler in the Bathinda Cantonment. He was living at the 25 Gaj, Dhobiana Basti for the last 12-13 years. In 2017, he started work as a cobbler. His brother and uncle also work as cobblers at the Cantonment.
The Army had been keeping watch on Sunil’s activities for the last several months. He would keep watch on movement of men and equipment from the Cantonment and also pick up bits and pieces of information from unsuspecting personnel who he came in contact with.
“It has been ascertained that he passed on such information to somebody through WhatsApp. It is still not clear whether he was honey-trapped or fooled into believing that there is a woman on the other end of the line, who has fallen in love with him. We are also trying to find out whether there was any exchange of money,” a senior police official said.
Bathinda City SP Narinder Singh said that it is still not clear what his intentions were. Singh said: “At this stage, we cannot confirm if he is a spy. We are checking his phone and conducting a forensic examination. Only after the facts are clear, we will take further action.”
The SP added that they are trying to find out how Sunil came in contact with the woman and what information he may have been shared.
Singh also said that it is possible someone pretending to be a woman contacted Sunil. “Many cyber fraud calls come to people. Sunil might have started chatting, thinking it was a real woman,” he said.
Punjab Police has registered a case against Sunil under Section 52 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that deals with conspiracy-related offences. Police say the investigation is in the early stages and more details will be revealed after mobile analysis.
