Punjab man held for ‘spying’ for Pakistan; cops say he shared information on Army movements during Operation Sindoor

Punjab Police arrested a man for being in contact with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and sharing sensitive information concerning army movements during Operation Sindoor, Director General of Police, Punjab Police said on Tuesday.

Gagandeep Singh, aka Gagan, was arrested after information was received from the Counter Intelligence Unit of the Punjab Police. The DGP said that Gagan is accused of engaging in sharing classified details, including troop deployments and strategic locations, posing a threat to national security.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Gagan had been in touch with Pakistan-based Khalistani supporter Gopal Singh Chawla for the past five years, through whom he was introduced to the Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). He also received payments from PIOs via Indian channels, the DGP said in a post on X.

A mobile phone containing intelligence that he shared with the PIOs, as well as the details of over 20 ISI contacts, has been recovered. An FIR has been registered under the Official Secrets Act at PS City, Tarn Taran, and further investigation is in progress, the DGP added.

“Thorough financial and technical investigations are underway to trace other linkages and establish the full scope of this espionage networks,” the DGP said. Earlier, police had arrested six persons, including a woman from Malerkotla district, for allegedly spying for Pakistan.

Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian armed forces carried out pre-dawn missile strikes on May 7 on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke, in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.

Police custody of Thane ‘spy’ extended

A court on Monday extended till June 5 the police custody of mechanical engineer Ravindra Verma, arrested for alleged spying and sharing sensitive information about warships and submarines to Pakistan after the prosecution submitted that his colleagues need to be questioned.

According to a PTI report, the 27-year-old junior engineer who worked with a defence technology firm was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) last week. He is a resident of Kalwa in neighbouring Thane.

Verma was produced before a court in Thane on Monday at the end of his previous remand. Police requested the extension of Verma's custody explaining to the court the need to conduct a probe at Verma's workplace and question his colleagues.

According to police, Verma was lured into passing classified information after being honey-trapped by a Pakistani agent posing as a woman on Facebook, the PTI report added.

Police had said that Verma shared sensitive information about warships and submarines to the Pakistani intelligence operative through sketches, diagrams and audio notes, and received money from various bank accounts in India and abroad in return.

Verma's lawyer, however, argued that his arrest was illegal as the ATS didn't follow the legal guidelines. The lawyer submitted that the court had not seen any solid proof and that the blue diary recovered from him only contained work-related note, the report added.

(With inputs from agencies)