Army man, contractor held for spying: Delhi Police

Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Praveer Ranjan told reporters at a press conference that Singh, who is currently posted at Agra Cantonment, was arrested on Thursday from Agra. He will be questioned by the military authorities and produced in court on Friday.

Both Rahman and Singh have been booked under Official Secrets Act.

The documents seized from Rahman’s possession have “confidential” and “restricted” marked on them. Sources in the police said Rahman has been providing the documents and CDs to his handlers in the ISI for over two years now. The documents were mainly sent through WhatsApp.

Sources said that months ahead of the arrest, DCP (Crime) Monika Bhardwaj’s team received information from military intelligence about a “spy network” in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. On July 11, the police received information that Rahman was providing classified documents to Pakistan with help from some “anti-national” individuals in Delhi.

Special CP Ranjan said, “Our team caught him [Rahman] in Pokhran on Tuesday and seized documents on defence establishment’s locations and intelligence inputs from his possession. Since Singh was a clerk, he might have access to files and to office keys. We will write to Army HQ for more details and ascertain Singh’s activities ”

Singh’s involvement emerged during Rahman’s questioning. He met Rahman in Pokhran Army base camp where the latter was a vegetable supplier and contractor. The police said Rahman “encouraged” Singh to steal the documents and share them with him. Even after Singh was transferred to Agra Cantonment, the two continued to exchange information.

According to the police, Rahman used to get paid in cash from his Pakistani handlers, while his associates received money through hawala channels in their bank accounts. Prima facie, Rahman and Singh received Rs 9-10 lakh for sharing the documents, sources said.

The police said Rahman went to Sindh in 2019 to meet relatives when he was approached by his Pakistani handler, since he was a regular at the Pokhran Army base camp.

They said the possible involvement of others who may have helped Rahman is being investigated. “We are investigating the matter and will question everyone who’s linked to the spy network,” said DCP Bhardwaj.

Sources said Rahman and Singh have given “code names” of some of their associates. The police are trying to ascertain their identities.

The police said they produced Rahman before a court and got 10 days police custody.