Ex-Army employee arrested in Bengal on charges of working for Pakistan's ISI

A former Indian Army employee based in Punjab was arrested from Alipurduar district in north Bengal on Friday on charges of working for Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), local police officers and lawyers aware of the matter said.

The suspect, a resident of Rasulpur village in Punjab's Tarn Taran district, is a former Lance Naik. He was arrested by a Punjab police team from Alipurduar's Hasimara near the India-Bhutan border, where the Indian Army has a cantonment. The Hasimara police assisted the Punjab team.

He is suspected to have worked with an associate who is at large.

Additional public prosecutor Soumitra Sinha Sarkar, who represented the state in court when the suspect was produced, said that the Punjab Police came to Bengal following the ex-Lance Naik's trail.

"He was arrested on charges of spying for the ISI and sharing classified information relating to our Army," Sarkar said. The additional chief judicial magistrate at the Siliguri court granted a transit remand so that the suspect could be taken back to Punjab, Sarkar further added.

"He was charged under the Official Secrets Act in the first information report (FIR) registered by the Fazilka police station in Punjab on October 8," a police officer said, requesting anonymity.