Jaipur: The CID (special branch) on Sunday arrested the husband of a former sarpanch from Jaisalmer district who was honey-trapped by a Pakistani ISI agent and leaked sensitive information about the Indian army.
The 42-year-old man identified as Satyanarayan Paliwal is a resident of Lathi village which is near the International Border between India and Pakistan, was arrested on charges of spying under the Officials Secrets Act,1923 .
Intelligence agencies had nabbed Paliwal three days back from near the Pokran firing range. He was questioned for two days by the officials and he confessed to spying and having shared information over social media.
ADG Intelligence Umesh Mishra said Paliwal was found to have shared information over Chhadam, a social media account operated by Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. He shared information regarding the army’s movement in the border areas and activities at the Pokran field firing range which is the largest in the country.
During interrogation, Paliwal told officials that since his wife was sarpanch he had access to army’s activities. If an army exercise of movement is taking place, the concerned gram panchayat has information about it as it alerts surrounding villages so there is no mishap.
Given his influence, an ISI agent contacted Paliwal a couple of years back on Chhadam. She posed as an Indian journalist and became very friendly with Paliwal and regularly chatted with him. She later started making video calls using a fake Indian number.
After winning his confidence, she asked Paliwal to gather information about the army’s movement in Pokran. Intelligence agencies got wind of the honey trap and put him under surveillance.
ADG Mishra said that the CID (special branch) has filed a case against Paliwal under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 at the special police station in Jaipur.
The intelligence branch had been keeping a watch over Paliwal since one month after getting information regarding spying. He was detained three days back and questioned by intelligence agencies in Jaisalmer. After he confessed, he was brought to Jaipur on Sunday and a case was registered against him, said Mishra.
