Two more persons were arrested in Arunachal Pradesh on espionage charges, the police said on Friday.
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With these arrests, a total of four people have been arrested in the state, which has a border with China, for sharing sensitive security-related information with Pakistani handlers, they said.
The latest arrests were made from Aalo in West Siang district and Miao in Changlang district, they added.
West Siang’s SP Kardak Riba said his office received inputs from the Itanagar police on December 11, informing that a person linked to the ongoing espionage probe was in Aalo.
“Acting on the information, a team was immediately activated. With the assistance of local mosque leaders, the suspect was traced and apprehended,” he said.
The arrested individual was identified as Hilal Ahmed (26), also a resident of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir. He was subsequently sent to Itanagar for questioning, the SP said.
Hilal was allegedly sending sensitive information to his handlers, he said.
Riba said a detailed investigation was being carried out by the Itanagar police to ascertain his exact role and linkages.
He said Hilal had arrived in Aalo from Papum Pare district on November 25 to participate in a trade fair at the Old Market, where he was selling blankets.
The West Changlang police confirmed that another person was taken into custody from Miao in connection with the case, but refused to share details.
Earlier, Nazir Ahmad Malik and Sabir Ahmed Mir, both natives of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, were arrested from the Itanagar Capital Region.
On the basis of intelligence inputs, Nazir was arrested from a rented house in Ganga village in the Chimpu police station area on November 22. Based on information provided by him, the investigators arrested Sabir from Abotani Colony.
During interrogation, Nazir admitted to sharing deployment details of the Army and paramilitary forces and information on military installations to Pakistani handlers through Telegram, police claimed.
Sabir was working to facilitate the illegal entry of Pakistani nationals into India and act as an arms courier, they alleged.
The police said they have registered a case under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the Official Secrets Act.
