Army man arrested for leaking info on national security

Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Narnaul, July 11

An Army jawan of Mahendergarh district in Haryana has been arrested on charges of leaking confidential information on national security. 

He was produced before a local court today, which remanded him in police custody for two days.

The Army jawan allegedly got honey-trapped by a foreign woman and revealed secret information pertaining to the rifles used by the Army personnel and the location of his unit through WhatsApp and other means.

“The preliminary investigations indicate that the woman who allegedly honey-trapped the Army sepoy belongs to Pakistan, though it is yet to be verified. We are interrogating the arrested person and seeking help of cyber experts to get to the bottom of the matter,” Narnaul SP Chander Mohan toldThe Tribune this evening. 

As per an official statement issued here, an FIR has been registered against Sepoy Ravinder Kumar of Basai village in Mahendergarh district under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 120-B of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act.

As per the police statement, Ravinder got recruited in 5 Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army in 2017.

In 2018, while he was posted at Amritsar in Punjab, he came in contact with a foreign woman through Facebook. They began chatting and video-calling each other and gradually, Ravinder disclosed that he worked for the Indian Army and was posted at Amritsar.

“He disclosed the kind of rifles used by the Army personnel. When Ravinder moved to Arunachal Pradesh with his unit, he disclosed this to the woman. In December 2018, the woman got Rs 5,000 deposited in Ravinder’s account. He continued to reveal confidential information pertaining to internal and external national security and sensitive locations,” the statement maintained.

Meanwhile, the district police got a tip-off regarding his activities. On July 8, Ravinder took leave. As he got down on Narnaul railway station on July 10, a police team surrounded the railway station and launched a search operation.

Ravinder was found sitting at a tea-stall waiting for a cab. He was nabbed by the police. Seven live cartridges, two mobile phone handsets and three SIM cards were seized from his possession.

The police are now trying to dig out the communication details of the accused to ascertain the location and nationality of the woman who was in contact with him and to find whether some other persons were also involved in the matter.