Chandigarh: Devender Singh, 25, the man arrested on charges of spying, was in continuous contact with the Pakistani Intelligence Operatives, or PIOs, who he had met in the neighbouring country and shared information with them, a police officer said on Monday.
Singh’s links with PIOs had come to the fore during his interrogation in a separate matter, Kaithal’s Superintendent of Police Astha Modi had said last week.
The native of Kaithal district’s Guhla area was arrested a week ago for allegedly uploading photos on social media with weapons, Modi had said.
Over the last fortnight, five people from Haryana, including a YouTuber, have been nabbed on charges of spying for Pakistan.
The five include Hisar native Jyoti Malhotra, whose YouTube channel at present has 3.87 lakh subscribers, up from last week’s 3.77 lakh.
Sources said one more suspect had been rounded up by Haryana Police on Monday and was being questioned to find out if he had any involvement in spying activities.
Speaking to reporters after an event in Panipat’s Samalkha, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said, “When such matters come to fore, police take action and they are taking action.”
Meanwhile, the Kaithal SP that police have learnt that Devender Singh, who has been pursuing a Master’s degree in political science from a college in Punjab’s Patiala, had gone to Pakistan on pilgrimage in November last year.
Speaking to reporters in Kaithal on Monday, Modi said, “We conducted searches and seized some devices. We have recovered a lot of data from the devices, and they are being analysed.”
She said that Singh continued to be in touch with the PIOs even after he returned to India.
“We are trying to recover the content of messages… We want his remand extended to confront him to check what the content was of the data that he sent,” she said. Meanwhile, a court in Kaithal on Monday extended Singh’s police remand by four days.
Asked if there could be a honeytrap angle involved, Modi said, “We cannot conclusively say it is a case of honey trap. It is a matter of investigation.”
She, however, said Singh was in contact with a woman PIO.
His financial transactions were being checked, she said to a question.
She said it is not yet known whether he was in touch with other alleged spies arrested in the state or somewhere else. There may be a common handler, but no such thing has come as of now, she said.
Modi had last week said that Singh “admitted to sending some photos of Patiala cantonment by clicking pictures from outside.”
Malhotra was arrested by the Haryana Police on May 16 on the charge of passing on sensitive information to PIOs.
Malhotra, who runs a YouTube channel ‘Travel with JO’, was arrested at New Aggarsain Extension in Hisar. She has been booked under the relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Haryana Police said.
Speaking to reporters in Hisar on Monday, Malhotra’s father, Harish, said police came last week to their house and took away her laptop and seized three mobile phones.
He said he was not aware of Jyoti’s YouTube or other social media accounts.
“Whenever she would leave home, she would say that she was going to Delhi and would return after a few days,” he said.
“I do not know about the allegations which are being levelled against her,” he said.
He said that before the COVID pandemic, she worked in Delhi but later left her job.
Hisar Superintendent of Police Shashank Kumar Sawan had on Sunday said PIOs were developing Jyoti Malhotra as an asset. Meanwhile, in Ambala, Haryana Minister Anil Vij said those who betray their country are traitors.
“Government is taking action on every front, be it on borders, be it keeping an eye on Pakistan’s nefarious activities or be it keeping an eye on those within our own country who are helping the enemy (referring to the recent arrests),” he said.
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