Subedar faces court martial for leaking classified data from Northern Command headquarters

Two charges have been levelled against the subedar under the Army Act, with the first one under section 69 accusing him of having failed to take reasonable care so as to endanger the safety of documents and informations which relate to the matter, disclosure of which is likely to affect the security of the state contrary to the Official Secrets Act.

The subedar has been accused of having leaked classified information while being posted at Udhampur, between July 20, 2020 and January 31, 2021, while performing the duties of the head clerk of the General Staff (Operations) Branch of the Northern Command headquarters.

The second charge against the subedar is under section 63 of the Army Act. The charge states that while performing the duties of the head clerk, he omitted to exercise proper supervision, ensure the security of classified information and documents at the branch, thereby leading to its leakage.

In 2021 a drugs angle interconnected with Pakistan intelligence agencies cropped up in the leakage of sensitive operational data from the Army’s Northern Command headquarters, with preliminary investigation reportedly revealing the involvement of three jawans of the Sikh Regiment.

Sources revealed to The Indian Express that while one jawan was based in Udhampur and had access to the operational data at the headquarters, the other two jawans were from different battalions and posted elsewhere. However, all three knew each other and were in touch with each other.

It is learnt that the involvement of at least two jawans in the drugs trade as users or as sellers has been probed by the intelligence agencies as it was through the drugs route that the Pakistani intelligence operatives are alleged to have enticed them into gathering intelligence.

The then general officer commanding of 16 Corps was the presiding officer of the court of inquiry into the leakage of operational details and two major generals were members of the inquiry.

A central intelligence agency stumbled upon the affair during an investigation into drug trade with Pakistani links. A dead drop of a pen drive containing sensitive operational information pertaining to the Northern Command was made by one of the jawans, which was intercepted by the central intelligence agency.

Sources said the matter was then placed before the Military Intelligence and the involvement of the three jawans came to light. Further investigations were conducted leading to the uncovering of the involvement of other personnel including a junior commissioned officer in the information leakage.