India: Finance ministry employee leaks secret, classified info to Pakistan number, held

A finance ministry employee has been arrested in the northern Indian city of Ghaziabad for allegedly supplying secret and classified documents to Pakistan.The accused sent data, including that related to the G20 Summit, to a mobile number suspected to be from Pakistan, according to the authorities.

The accused has been identified as 27-year-old Naveen Pal, a resident ofBhim Nagar in Ghaziabad. He was acontractual Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

Pal was arrested on Monday around 7 pm after the authorities received a tip-off. He has been charged under theOfficial Secrets Act and the IT Act.

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“The accused is a contract worker in the Union Ministry of Finance who is working as a multi-tasking staff. Suspicious messages were sent from his mobile number to another mobile number…he shared confidential documents with this number and in return received money online," Ghaziabad DCP Shubham Patel was quoted as saying by ANI.

“We had received information that Pal was sharing classified documents with someone. We took him into custody and interrogated him. We verified through his phone that he had shared some documents with an unknown source after taking money,” Patel added.

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Pal's rate for selling confidential data

During the investigation, the police found a mobile number saved as"Anjali of Kolkata" in Pal's phone which is suspected to be a Pakistan number. Additionally, a 61-page official document has also been seized, while his bank transactions have been verified.He transferred the secret information in lieu of money and took anywhere betweenRs 8,000 ($97) to Rs 10,00 ($121) per document, the police informed.

The police are of the view that Pal may have leaked sensitive information to the "woman" on his phone and endangered national security as well as harmed India's relationship with other countries.

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India received the G20 presidency last year and is scheduled to host the breakthrough summit later this year. The government has been hosting G20 sideline events throughout the year and Pal could have compromised the events.

The news of Ghaziabad police nabbing Pal comes days afterMaharashtra’s anti-terrorism squad (ATS) filed a chargesheet against Pune city-based Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist, Pradeep Kurulkar, who was also lured by a Pakistani agent into divulging top-secret, confidential data.

(With inputs from agencies)

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