Colonel arrested on charges of cheating, forgery

The Dharampur police in Solan district arrested an Army Colonel from Dehradun last evening on the charges of cheating and forgery after the defence authorities found that he was involved in espionage activities during his posting at the Dagshai cantonment as Lieutenant Colonel in 2023.

The police swung into action after An Army officer from Dagshai, Jadhav, lodged a complaint at Dharampur police station on July 6 stating that Colonel Abhay Pisal of his unit was in possession of forged documents like driving licences, ration cards, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and a weapon in the name of Tahir Mustafa. An FIR was registered under Sections 420, 467, 468 of the IPC for cheating and forgery and Section 25 of the Arms Act following the complaint.

According to the complaint, Colonel Pisal also possessed an unlicensed 12-bore gun. A board of defence officials had seized these incriminating materials on the orders of the headquarters of 95th Infantry Brigade during a probe. Colonel Pisal was suspected to be in contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives and was using forged documents like a gun licence, ration cards and Aadhaar cards for his nefarious purposes, according to officials.

“During investigation into the case, a police team arrested accused officer Col Abhay Pisal (45), a resident of Satara district in Maharashtra, from Dehradun on Tuesday evening after a thorough probe,” said SP, Solan, Gaurav Singh.

Colonel Pisal was today produced before a court, which remanded him in three days’ police custody. A further investigation into the cases was underway

The accused was posted as Lieutenant Colonel at the Dagshai cantonment in 2023. A police probe had found that he neither had a licence of the 12-bore single-barrel gun recovered from him nor it was of any company or fulfilled other pre-requisites like gun number etc, invoking the suspicion of the defence authorities.

Colonel Pisal had remained suspended for 20 months and was now posted at his unit headquarters. The police during the probe had found that the accused had prepared two Aadhaar cards, driving licences, PAN cards, ration cards and identity cards bearing the same number in the names of Pisal Abhay, Vijay Singh and Tahir Mustafa. The authenticity of the documents was being examined. “The source of the 12-bore single-barrel gun is also being ascertained, as it was being operated without a licence. Besides, how he got the fake documents prepared is also being probed,” said the SP.

Involved in espionage at Dagshai Cantt

• The defence authorities found that Colonel Abhay Pisal was involved in espionage activities during his posting at the Dagshai cantonment as Lieutenant Colonel in 2023
• Colonel Pisal possessed forged documents like a driving licence, ration card, Aadhaar card, PAN card and a 12-bore gun in the name of Tahir Mustafa
• He was on Wednesday produced before a court, which remanded him in three days’ police custody