Jawan held for leaking sensitive info

Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Narnaul, July 11

An Army jawan of Mahendergarh district has been arrested on charges of leaking confidential information on national security. He has been remanded in police custody for two days. Honey-trapped by a foreign woman, he allegedly revealed secret information pertaining to rifles and the location of his unit on WhatsApp and other means.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that the woman may be from Pakistan. We are seeking the help of cyber experts to get to the bottom of the matter,” Narnaul SP Chander Mohan told The Tribune. As per an official statement issued here today, an FIR has been registered against sepoy Ravinder Kumar of Basai village under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 120-B of the IPC and the Arms Act. Ravinder had joined 5 Kumaon Regiment in 2017. 

In 2018, while posted at Amritsar, he befriended a woman on Facebook.

Ravinder told her that he worked with the Indian Army and was posted at Amritsar. “He disclosed the rifles used by the Army personnel. He  later moved to Arunachal Pradesh with his unit. In December 2018, the woman got Rs 5,000 deposited in his account and he continued giving confidential information to her pertaining to internal and external national security and sensitive locations,” the statement read.

On July 8, Ravinder took leave. As he got down a train at Narnaul on July 10, a police team surrounded the railway station.