MEA Staffer Arrested For Allegedly Sharing ‘Secret’ Info With Pakistan

A government official has been arrested for allegedly sharing details of G-20 event with Pakistan.

The reports said the official was working as a temporary staffer of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The person has been arrested for allegedly sharing details of G-20 meetings and other confidential information with an unidentified person in Pakistan, the reports said.

The Ghaziabad Police arrested the man, Naveen Pal, on charges of espionage based on information by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the reports mentioned.

“Pal allegedly shared confidential information through WhatsApp with a woman he met on social media. The virtual phone number associated with the woman's WhatsApp account appeared to be from Bareilly in UP,”NDTV reported.

It added: “However, the IP address was traced to Karachi in Pakistan”.

The accused man, as per the reports, allegedly shared multiple pieces of intelligence about India, MEA documents, and details of G-20 meetings with a person in Karachi through WhatsApp.

The reports mentioned the documents recovered from Pal's phone were marked as "secret".

Besides, the report said a woman from Rajasthan's Alwar is under the radar of the investigative agency over her financial transactions with Pal on an UPI platform.

The accused Naveen Pal is being questioned by the Ghaziabad Police and officials of the IB.

Earlier, DRDO scientist Pradeep Kurulkar was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police for espionage.

In its chargesheet, the agency mentioned that he was attracted to the Pakistani Intelligence Operative, who used the alias 'Zara Dasgupta'.

According to the the chargesheet, the DRDO scientist chatted with her about Indian missile systems among other classified defence projects.

Kulrulkar was arrested on May 3 under the Official Secrets Act and is now in judicial custody.