Haryana man held for passing secret information to Pakistan High Commission, booked under OSA

Faridabad, Sep 29 (PTI) A man from Haryana's Palwal district has been arrested for allegedly providing confidential information related to Indian military activities to Pakistan, police said on Monday.

The accused, Taufiq (35), from Alimev village in Hathin block, was taken into custody based on inputs from intelligence agencies. He has been booked under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and sedition charges, police said.

Taufiq was produced before a city court and remanded in police custody for five days for interrogation, they added.

According to police, incriminating material was recovered from his mobile phone. Taufiq's father, Nisar, was an officer in the Haryana Tourism Department, while the accused had been helping people with passports and other documents at the Hathin Mini Secretariat for several years.

His wife, from Rajasthan, has relatives in Pakistan, they added.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Taufiq visited Pakistan in 2022 to meet his wife's relatives, where he came in contact with an employee of the Pakistani embassy. They later began communicating through WhatsApp, police said.

He allegedly shared sensitive information with the embassy employee and facilitated visas for people wanting to travel to Pakistan by charging Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000. In return, he passed on intelligence inputs, including details about the family of a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan from the Hathin area, a senior investigating officer said.

Police said they are examining his WhatsApp chats, call records and bank account details.

"We have arrested Taufiq, who was in touch with the Pakistani High Commission. An FIR has been registered and further probe is underway," a senior police officer said. PTI COR OZ OZ