Ordnance Factory worker held for sending sensitive info to Pakistani agent: UP ATS

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad has arrested an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Hazratpur in Firozabad district for allegedly sending sensitive and confidential information to a Pakistani agent, who had befriended him on Facebook, an official statement said on Friday.

It said the accused, Ravindra Kumar, a chargeman at the factory, was arrested on Thursday.

"In the last few days, the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has been receiving information about handlers of a Pakistani spy agency, under pseudonyms, luring staff at the External Affairs Ministry and the Government of India, and offering them money to obtain confidential and classified information and documents, which could have posed a threat to India's internal and external security," the ATS statement said.

"On a thorough probe, it was found that Ravindra Kumar, a chargeman at the Ordnance Factory in Hazratpur, was sending sensitive and confidential information to a Pakistani agent, who was his Facebook friend," the statement said.

After initial interrogation, the Agra unit of the ATS brought Kumar to its headquarters in Lucknow on Thursday.

The ATS squad said they found sensitive and confidential documents in Kumar's phone, which he had sent to the Pakistani agent. He could not offer a satisfactory explanation for this, they said.

After he allegedly admitted to the crime, a case was registered against Kumar under Section 148 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. He was subsequently arrested.

"During interrogation, Kumar said he has been working in the Ordnance Factory since 2006, and as a chargeman since 2009. Around July 2024, he became friends with Neha Sharma on Facebook. He frequently chatted with her on WhatsApp, via audio and video calls," the ATS said.

"Ravindra Kumar, in the greed of becoming rich, used to send her confidential information. He also said he used to frequently delete the WhatsApp chats, but some chats and confidential documents remained in the phone," the ATS said.

Five confidential documents, Rs 6,220, a mobile phone, an ATM card, Aadhaar card, Voter card and PAN card have been recovered from the accused, the ATS statement added.