Cops arrest 24-yr-old man found in possession of crucial info on army's Southern Command HQ, say he was to pass it on to Pak intelligence
Cops arrest 24-yr-old man found in possession of crucial info on army's Southern Command HQ, say he was to pass it on to Pak intelligence
Is the headquarters of the army's Southern Command on the terror hit list? It seems so with the arrest of a 24-year-old man, who the police said obtained sensitive information about the HQ with the help of an army jawan and was in the process of passing it on to his contacts in Pakistan.
The suspect was identified as Vishambhar Tarachand Agarwal, a resident of Transportnagar in Nigdi and originally hailing from Haryana. The police are yet to verify whether Vishambhar is his real name and other details about him.
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A team led by Police Inspector Bhanupratap Barge and Satish Govekar arrested Vishambhar on Tuesday near Alankar theatre, close to the Pune railway station. He was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class R L Wankhede, who remanded him in the police custody till February 7.
Police Commissioner Meeran Chadha Borwankar told mediapersons yesterday that 20 photographs of the Southern Command headquarters, a compact disc, some hand-drawn sketches of the headquarters, and telephone numbers of senior army officers were recovered from the suspect.
"Vishambhar had been living on his own in Pune for a couple of years, but his exact date of arrival is not known yet," Borwankar said. "We have just obtained his custody and further interrogation of the suspect will reveal more links. Vishambhar's links with people in Pakistan have been ascertained but right now we cannot comment on whether he was an agent of the ISI, the intelligence agency of Pakistan. There is the involvement of a third person too, but his identity is not established yet."
She said the police were in touch with other investigative agencies and alert to possible threats.
"The Pune police are on alert as the first anniversary of the German Bakery blast is round the corner. All branches of the city police force, including the Crime branch, Special Branch and the Pune Anti-Terrorism Cell, have undertaken combined operations," she said. "We are in contact with other investigative agencies in order to share whatever information is revealed in the interrogation of the suspects."
The army authorities said they could not share any more information than the police had already revealed at this stage.
"We are in touch with the police and the matter is being investigated. As this is in a preliminary stage, information pertaining to the case cannot be provided as the matter is sensitive and has to be handled with confidentiality," said an army officer from the Southern Command headquarters.
There have been arrests in the city for spying in the past as well. Vishalkumar Upadhyay (26) of Jharkhand, Shailesh Jadhav (29) of Satara and Saeed Desai were arrested in the earlier cases.
Vishambhar was booked under Sections 3 and 9 of the Officials Secret Act, 1923, and Section 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code.
Public Prosecutor A V Ausekar argued for his police custody on the grounds that the police had to uncover a bigger operation of which Vishambar may just be a small part. "Vishambhar's links with Brijesh Singh and whether there were other people in contact with him need to be investigated," said Ausekar in court.
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