Ex-IAF officer held in Assam over alleged Pakistani links
GUWAHATI: A retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer was arrested in Assam for his alleged links with Pakistani operatives, while Arunachal Police arrested four Kashmiri residents over the past few days in an alleged espionage case. Retired Junior Warrant Officer Kulendra Sarma, a resident of the Patia locality of Tezpur in northern Assams Sonitpur district, was arrested late Friday night. Preliminary investigation revealed he had shared sensitive documents and information with Pakistani operatives. The police seized his laptop and mobile phone and sent them for a forensic examination. Superintendent of Police, Barun Purkayastha, told TNIE that the police were tracking the accused for the past few weeks. We received human intel about him. We kept him under technical surveillance, but slowly the matter was getting serious. We took time to collect evidence and picked him up eventually, Purkayastha said. He added that the police were trying to find out if the accused had any local associates. A case was registered against him under relevanthe t sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The last posting of Sarma, who retired in 2002, was at the Air Force Station in Tezpur. Later, he briefly worked at Tezpur University. The IAFs Tezpur base has key air assets, including a Sukhoi 30 squadron. Meanwhile, all four arrested in the frontier state of Arunachal are from Kupwara. On November 21, Itanagar police arrested Nazir Ahmad Malik and Sabir Ahmed Mir based on intelligence inputs about their possible involvement in espionage activities. They reportedly shared vital information about Army movements and installations in Arunachal with their Pakistani associates through a Telegram channel. Later, based on information shared by Itanagar police, West Siang police arrested one Hilal Ahmed from Aalo, and Changlang police arrested one Gulam Md Mir from Miao. Stating that it is a case involving national security, the police urged everyone to wait for the completion of the probe.
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