A dismissed army soldier suspected to be spying for Pakistan’s ISI was caught red-handed with secret documents about deployment of Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir and Secunderabad besides information about missiles which he was planning to hand over to a contact in Kathmandu.
Describing the arrest as a “big catch,” Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Neelmani told PTI on Tuesday that Sudhanshu Sudhakar, a former sepoy, was arrested during a raid in Kankarbagh here last evening on a tip off by the Intelligence Bureau.
A resident of Sitamarhi district, Sudhakar, who was under surveillance for some time after being dismissed from the Army, has been booked under Official Secrets Act at the Kankerbagh police station and the Home ministry has been informed, Mr. Neelmani said.
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The ISI operative was here to collect information about the Ordnance factory at Rajgir in Nalanda district.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Patna) Vinit Vinayak told reporters that the information Sudhakar had pertained to missile requirements on the borders and latest missile technologies.
The sepoy was cashiered from the Army in 2007 after a five year stint because of his alleged involvement in a recruitment scam.
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Sudhakar revealed vital information on his contacts during interrogation and important documents were seized from his Sitamarhi residence, the SSP said.
Raids were carried out in Sitamarhi and Madhubani districts and some places in Jharkhand on information given by Sudhakar.
Providing details of the arrest, Mr. Vinayak said, “Sudhakar was recruited in 2002 and in 2007 he was thrown out for indiscipline. After that he came to Sitamarhi, and was then approached for information for which he was offered a lot of money.”
He was reportedly in constant touch with ISI agents in Nepal and used to get anywhere between Rs. 50,000 to one lakh for onpassing information
“After his arrest he told us he has many documents which he was going to give to an ISI module member in Kathmandu. We raided his Sitamarhi house and found several official secret documents,” Mr. Vinayak said.
Sudhakar served the Indian Army’s EME centre in Secunderabad. He was reportedly contacted by ISI agents soon after he returned to Bihar.
He was also in touch with sepoys in Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat, particularly the Kutch area, from where he used to get information regarding missile deployments, technologies and gadgets used. He also provided personal details of SPs and Collectors from these areas.