UP ATS arrests man on charge of spying for Pakistan’s ISI

PTI, Sep 26, 2023, 8:53 PM IST

Representative image (source: Pexels)

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested a man for allegedly being involved in spying for Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

Shailesh Kumar Singh alias Shailendra Singh Chauhan, a resident of Patiyali in Kasganj, had worked as a temporary labourer in the Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh for about nine months, according to an official statement issued here.

It is alleged that he passed on information about the army related to the location and movement of vehicles and sent photographs to his ISI handlers.

Singh was called to the ATS headquarters in Lucknow for interrogation, where he was formally arrested and will be produced before the court, Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said in the statement.

It claimed the ATS team, with physical and electronic surveillance, confirmed that Singh shared information related to the Army through WhatsApp and Facebook.

”Singh had worked as a temporary labourer in the army in Arunachal Pradesh for about nine months, due to which he has important information related to the army,” the statement said.

He is not working in any role in the army at present, but his social media profile stated that he was working in the army. He had also posted his picture in the army uniform in his profile under the name Shailendra Singh Chauhan, it said.

Singh came in contact with a woman named Harleen Kaur, who was working for the ISI with a fake identity, through Facebook and she started talking to him on messenger, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Singh also started talking to another ISI handler Preeti through audio calls on WhatsApp. He introduced himself to Preeti as an army soldier, the statement added.

Singh used to pass on army information related to location and the movement of vehicles and sent photographs to Preeti in exchange for money, it further said.

According to the statement, Preeti and Kaur are ISI handlers with fake identities. They used to obtain information related to the army from across the border and provide it to the ISI.

The ATS will seek his remand to interrogate him further.