Anti-terror cops catch soldier for 'spying'

As if the previous war room leaks were not sufficient to embarrass defence forces, a havildar from the Indian Army has been caught trying to pass some critical information to unknown people in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Posted at Bikaner, Havildar Yogendra was arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Aligarh and six sophisticated pistols were recovered from him. Though both the UP police and the Indian Army are tight-lipped about him, sources said that he was also carrying some secret documents of the Central Command of the Indian Army.

"He is from 5 Jat regiment of the Indian Army and is posted at Bikaner. He was carrying six sophisticated pistols. We are still interrogating him and not much details are available as of now as it is a sensitive case," said a sub inspector from Aligarh on condition of anonymity. Though ATS claims that the arrest took place on April 9 from Civil Lines in Aligarh,u00a0 sources in Army said that Yogendra was arrested from Mathura and was later taken to Aligarh for further investigation.

Both the Army and the UP ATS refused to divulge the reason for taking him to Aligarh. "We have no idea of any such development," said a senior officer from UP police. Meanwhile, sources in Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed that he was handed to UP ATS after the Army recovered the documents from him. "The pistols he was carrying were not military made and we are trying to find out the source and the people who were supposed to take the delivery," said the sub-inspector. The ATS also arrested a thief in a related case. "He is a notorious car thief operating in Aligarh- Mathura region and has already been booked twice. It's not clear how Yogendra contacted him," said the officer.

In the last one year this is the second incident where a serving soldier has been caught for alleged spying. Last year, a father-son duo posted in the Northeast were caught with some sensitive document of the Eastern Command. Though the Army has been trying to downplay such events, sources say the top brass is concerned about them.

"Such cases have a very negative impact on the morale and image of the entire unit. In this particular case the Jat regiment is one of the best fighting units of the Army. No one exactly knows what this man was carrying but the question is how he got hold of any such document," said a senioru00a0 Army officer wishing anonymity.