BSF Jawan arrested for possible espionage

The Punjab Police on Sunday arrested a Border Security Force (BSF) official from Ferozpur for allegedly sharing sensitive information with Pakistan.

The accused identified as Riyazuddin is an officer of the 29th battalion of the BSF. A case under Sections 3 and 4 of the Official Secrets Act 1923 and Section 3-A of the National Security Act 1980 has been registered against him.

The police have recovered two mobile phones and several sim cards from the possession of the accused. He is a resident of Latur district in Maharashtra and worked as an operator in the force.

Station House Officer of Mumdot Police Station, Ranjit Singh said, "The arrest was made on the basis of a complaint filed by a Deputy Commander Rank officer of the Border Security Force. He was sharing sensitive information including confidential details like the photos of the barbed fences, footage of roads and contacts of various BSF personnel."

He further told that during the preliminary investigation, Riyazuddin admitted to have been sharing sensitive details regarding the BSF with Pakistan. The accused revealed that he transferred the information through Whatsapp.

This comes a month after an official in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was arrested for allegedly passing sensitive information to Pakistani agents.

The accused identified as Nishant Aggarwal was working as a senior systems engineer at BrahMos Aerospace unit in Nagpur. He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti Terrorism Squad in the month of October.