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HomeDefenceArmy sepoy arrested for 'stealing' INSAS rifles, Pakistani hand suspected

Army sepoy arrested for ‘stealing’ INSAS rifles, Pakistani hand suspected

Sepoy Harpreet Singh of Sikh regiment was arrested Monday from Hoshiarpur. Investigation revealed Singh was chatting with a Pakistani woman on Facebook.

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New Delhi: A sepoy serving with the Indian Army has been arrested in Punjab for allegedly infiltrating an army training institute in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, and decamping with two INSAS rifles and ammunition.

Investigators are suspecting Pakistan’s hand behind the theft as Sepoy Harpreet Singh was found to have been chatting with a Pakistani woman on Facebook. Investigators suspect that Singh could have been inspired to carry out the crime after exchanging messages with the Facebook account, which is believed to be operated by Pakistani spy agencies, sources said.

Singh, who belongs to the Sikh regiment, was arrested Monday night from Hoshiarpur in a joint operation by the Military Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Punjab Police and the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Madhya Pradesh.

The stolen weapons and ammunition have been seized, sources told ThePrint.

Two others, involved in the theft, were also arrested Monday. They are not from the Army, sources said.

Last week, a high alert was sounded across Madhya Pradesh after the three men, impersonating Army officers, entered the Cariappa Music Wing at Army Education Corp in Pachmarhi and decamped with the two rifles and 50 live cartridges. The matter was reported to the police by the military officials Friday.

The trio was later spotted at a petrol pump and an ATM. Sources said they are being interrogated by a joint team.


Also read: Indian Army faced two cyberattack attempts every month in 2019


Pakistan, Khalistan connection

One of the arrested men is said to be related to a member of the Khalistan Zindabad Force, a militant group alleged to be behind the 4 September blast in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district.

The investigation revealed that the Facebook account Singh was exchanging messages with has shared posts written in Gurmukhi language, sources said.

Sources also added that the messages exchanged between Singh and the account have been accessed and further interrogation will reveal why Singh committed the crime and the role played by the Facebook account in influencing him.

How the case was cracked

Sources said the initial tip-off came from a taxi driver, who said he had driven two persons speaking in Punjabi and dropped them near a restaurant.

The CCTV footage at the ATM, where the trio was spotted, revealed their identities and bank details too.

“The sentries (at the Army unit) also identified him (Singh) as the person, who had decamped with the rifles. The bank details led to his payslips, army details and his phone number,” a source said.


Also read: Dozens of Indian Army jawans under lens for ‘falling prey to Facebook honey trap’


 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. A major reason why Pakistan approved the Kartapur corridor was that it provided the opportunity to recruit a large pool of possible “Khalistani operatives, to be trained and “handled” by the ISI-controlled Khalistanis headquartered across the border in Pakistan.

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