The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad on Thursday arrested a man from Didihat town in Uttarakhand for allegedly sharing information with Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence. The ATS arrested Ramesh Singh Kanyal, a resident of Kirola village in Pithoragarh district, for allegedly bugging the Islamabad residence of an Indian diplomat, for whom he worked as a cook between 2015 adn 2017, the Hindustan Times reported.
The diplomat had taken the domestic help to Pakistan. While there, he allegedly shared sensitive information with ISI agents in return for money.
“The house of the officer was bugged. The officer’s laptop and phone were also bugged,” Anand Kumar, a senior police officer, said at a press briefing in Lucknow, NDTV reported. “It seems the ISI used temporary employees at the embassy involved in cleaning operations to get in touch with Kanyal. During his interrogation, we learnt that the ISI also tried to get information from Kanyal about Indian military installations in Uttar Pradesh.”
Kanyal claimed that he had agreed to work for the ISI to repay his bank debts and was paid in dollars. “Kanyal says he was paid $1,300 [approximately Rs 89,000] for his work,” Kumar said. The police officer added Kanyal had a debt of nearly Rs 9 lakh, and he apparently repaid all that owed. This, Kumar said, shows that Kanyal received more money than he has disclosed.
Kanyal’s brother, who is in the Indian Army, had helped him secure the job of a domestic help at the Indian diplomat’s house, the police said.
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