New Delhi/Ghaziabad: Over two months after the arrest of DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar on espionage charges, an employee working in the Ministry of External Affairs was on Tuesday arrested on similar charges of sharing classified information with a female Pakistani intelligence agent in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad, sources said.
The accused has been identified as Naveen Pal, working in the External Affairs as Multi Tasking Staff (MTS). A case has been registered against Naveen Pal under sections 3, 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act 1923, besides the Information Technology Act 2008, source said. His digital gadgets have also been confiscated by the police for further investigation.
Sources said that Pal, who lives in the Crossing Republic area of Ghaziabad, was in contact with a suspicious woman who introduced herself as 'Anjali Calcutta' on Whatsapp after being honey trapped by her. Pal, sources said, has shared classified information with the alleged Pakistani agent including documents related to the G-20 summit being held in India.
The investigators have found the documents marked as 'secret' from the backup section of Pal's phone even as screenshots of the classified documents have also been found, sources said. They said that Pal has also received suspicious transactions from the number in lieu of the documents. Sources said that following inputs by the Intelligence Bureau, Ghaziabad Police arrested Pal near Shani temple even as the External Affairs Ministry has also been informed about the development.
Pal's arrest comes over two months after DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar was arrested in Maharashtra's Pune for allegedly sharing classfified documents with a female Pakistani agent.
