Haryana man accused of spying for Pakistan held by Nuh Police, third such arrest in a week

A spokesperson for the Nuh police confirmed the arrest and said that Armaan is a resident of Rajaka village. “Given it is a case related to national security, we cannot divulge much at this stage,” the official told The Indian Express. “His phone and other evidence are being analysed.”

The police informed that a search of Armaan’s mobile phone allegedly revealed conversations, photographs, and videos sent to contacts with phone numbers traced to Pakistan. Armaan was sent to police custody for six days by a local court on Saturday and faces charges under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as well as the Official Secrets Act.

Armaan’s family members, however, said that he has always been a very good child. “The police have not questioned us yet. I do not know what the government has on him, but it seems like the allegations are all wrong. We have relatives in Pakistan with whom we are in contact. Maybe that has led to the confusion,” a member of his family said on the condition of anonymity.

This, however, is not the first arrest in Haryana in a case of this sort. On Friday, police arrested Jyoti Rani, a popular travel blogger with over 377,000 YouTube subscribers and 132,000 Instagram followers, for allegedly passing “sensitive information” to a Pakistani official. Rani, whose YouTube channel is called “Travel with Jo,” is said to have come into contact with the official while visiting the Pakistan High Commission in 2023 to obtain a visa.

The man she allegedly communicated with, identified by police as Ehsan-ur-Rahim, also known as Danish, was declared persona non grata by the Indian government on May 13 and ordered to leave the country.

Earlier in the week, a third individual — 24-year-old Nauman Elahi, a private security guard working at a textile factory in Panipat — was also arrested for allegedly sharing sensitive information with multiple contacts in Pakistan. Elahi is originally from Uttar Pradesh.