Another arrest in spying case

Patiala, September 19

Arrested Army man Manpreet Sharma, who allegedly passed on vital defence information to a notorious drug peddler Amrik Singh, was desperate to shift abroad allegedly to meet his girlfriend there. Notably, Amrik later forwarded the information to Pakistani spies.

The police have now arrested another accused — Nand Singh. Patiala SSP Varun Sharma said the drug-terror angle came to the fore following the grilling of Amrik, Manpreet and with the arrest of Nand Singh. “We have recovered a pistol and bullets from Nand Singh, who was earlier linked to Babbar Khalsa,” said the SSP.

“We are now investigating the link of the trio with one of India’s most-wanted terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda,” said Sharma. “Rinda was the bridge between terrorists and gangsters besides narcotic smugglers. He was the main weapon supplier to gangsters and had a working relationship with Amrik and Nand with whom he stayed in the Central Jail, Patiala, in 2014,” said the SSP.

CIA in-charge Shaminder Singh confirmed that Amrik used Manpreet to “get vital Army information”. “Manpreet’s girlfriend moved to the UK in January and since then Manpreet wanted to be with her for which he needed money and the Army nod. Amrik asked him to pass information in return for help from Pakistani agents,” he said.