Sacked IAF officer to be quizzed for Pathankot terror attack

Booked under Official Secrets Act, Ranjith K K had allegedly shared secret info with operatives backed by Pakistan's ISI

A sacked IAF official, arrested for allegedly sharing secret information with Pakistan's ISI, will be interrogated in connection with today's Pathankot terror attack, investigators told a city court which extended his police custody till Monday.

Ranjith KK, a Leading Aircraftman with Indian Air Force posted at Bhatinda, was dismissed recently and later arrested after a combined operation by Delhi Police's Crime Branch, Military Intelligence and Air Force Liaisoning Unit (LU).

The sacked officer's police custody was extended by two more days by Metropolitan Magistrate Dheeraj Mittal who accepted the submissions of the police which wanted his custody to be extended so that they can further interrogate him.

"In view of the allegation and the reasons thereof, the application is allowed. Police remand of the accused is extended till January 4," the magistrate said.

Booked under the stringent Official Secrets Act, Ranjith K K had allegedly shared secret information with intelligence operatives suspected to be backed by Pakistan's ISI after being "honeytrapped" into an espionage racket.

A Crime Branch official informed the court that "revelations" made by the accused need to be ascertained and he needs to be also interrogated in connection with the Pathankot attack and terror espionage.

The investigators' submissions came after the magistrate asked the police whether any disclosure and recovery have been made during the earlier four-day remand.

IO S S Sandhu said that some "revelations" were made by Ranjith and police suspect that they could be a connection with the Pathankot attack, in which a group of heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists, suspected to be belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed outfit, struck at an Air Force base, killing three security personnel.

Police had earlier said that in this case, Ranjith was deceived by a cyber entity by the name Damini McNaught, who pretended to be an executive of a UK-based media firm and claimed that she required Air Force-related information for an article in their news magazine from Ranjith in exchange for pecuniary benefits.