2 Including Retired Army Jawan Arrested In Assam Over Pak Intelligence Links

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said two persons, including a retired army jawan re-employed on a contractual basis, were arrested for alleged involvement with a Pakistan Intelligence Operative (PIO).

"Today, as per input of central agencies, the Assam Police arrested two persons. One is a retired army jawan but currently working on a contractual basis with the army," he said at a press conference, when asked about an espionage-related arrest which was shared with the media through a police statement.

"It has been alleged that they were in touch with Pakistan and were giving information about army movement. We will hand them over to the central agencies," Sarma added.

Earlier on Sunday, Assam Police said through a press statement that a 31-year-old man from Bihar was arrested in Guwahati for his alleged involvement with a PIO.

Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police sources told NDTV that the person, identified as Abhishek Kumar Singh, was allegedly passing secret information regarding security forces to the PIO.

Singh, a resident of Bihar's Purba Champaran district, was arrested from a rented house in Guwahati's Satgaon area during an operation conducted by the Assam STF.

In its press statement, Assam police said that the operation was carried out after intelligence regarding Singh's alleged anti-national activities. "The operation was launched on the basis of a preliminary input received from Gajraj MI, Tezpur," police said.

According to the police, the Inspector General of Police, Assam, Partha Sarathi Mahanta, in coordination with the Senior Superintendent of Police, Sonitpur, Barun Purkayastha, worked on the intelligence input and further developed information regarding Singh's alleged activities and his suspected links with the PIO.

During the operation, the STF seized a mobile phone, SIM cards, and documents described by the police as incriminating from Singh's possession.

"During the preliminary investigation, our teams found Singh's involvement in espionage-related activities, including passing secret information concerning security forces to the Pakistan Intelligence Operative," police said.