Two troopers arrested for ‘links to drug racket, ISI’

THE PUNJAB Police on Tuesday claimed to have busted a “cross-border espionage network” with the arrest of two Army personnel — Sepoy Harpreet Singh, 23, (19 Rashtriya Rifles), and Sepoy Gurbhej Singh, 23, (18 Sikh Light Infantry).
Harpreet Singh, a resident of Cheecha village in Amritsar, was posted in Anantnag; Gurbhej Singh, from Punian village in Tarn Taran, was posted in Kargil. Both have been charged with spying for Pakistan’s ISI, below numerous sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Official Secrets Act.
In a press assertion, Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta stated the Jalandhar Rural Police, led by SSP Naveen Singla, had recovered confidential paperwork associated to the deployment and functioning of the Indian Army from a cross-border drug smuggler, Ranvir Singh, who was arrested on May 24.
During interrogation, Ranvir reportedly stated he had obtained the paperwork from Harpreet. Both Harpreet and Ranvir are from the identical village.
“Ranvir motivated and lured Sepoy Harpreet Singh with financial benefits for sharing defence-related classified documents, following which the latter induced his friend Sepoy Gurbhej into such anti-national spying activities,” the DGP stated.
He stated that since Gurbhej was working as a clerk on the 121 Infantry Brigade Headquarters in Kargil, he had entry to labeled paperwork containing strategic and tactical info associated to the Indian Army.

The DGP stated the 2 troopers obtained cash for sharing the knowledge. Ranvir would pay Harpreet, who would switch the cash to Gurbhej’s account, he stated.
The Army handed over the 2 troopers to a workforce of the Jalandhar police, in Kargil on July 2. On Monday, they had been produced earlier than a courtroom in Jalandhar, which despatched them to police custody until July 11.
According to police, from February to May this 12 months, the 2 Army personnel shared pictures of over 900 labeled paperwork with Ranvir, who relayed the knowledge to Pakistan’s ISI, both immediately or by way of one other drug smuggler, recognized as Gopi.

Following Ranvir’s arrest, Gopi was arrested on June 1. Gopi, from Dauke village in Amritsar, has been recognized as a key hyperlink to Pakistan-based drug-smuggling syndicates and the ISI.
According to police, Gopi has admitted that he shared labeled paperwork with an ISI operative recognized as Sikander and a Pakistan-based drug smuggler recognized as Kothar. The DGP stated the knowledge was relayed through encrypted Apps.
SSP Naveen Singla stated additional investigations had been on to search out out if extra individuals had been concerned.