Patiala student arrested for spying

The Patiala police have started a probe after a 23-year-old student of Khalsa College, Patiala, Devinder Singh Dhillon, was arrested in Kaithal, Haryana, for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The college authorities said the student used to miss classes and was also missing from the college for almost a month.

The accused is a student of masters in political science (first year) and had also missed some recent exams. “He never raised any suspicion, but had missed some classes and a few exams in the recent past. A police team had also visited the college to gather some information about him, which was provided to it,” said one of the faculty members at the college.

Devinder had recently visited Pakistan via the Kartarpur corridor in November and reportedly shared sensitive information, including photos of the Patiala military cantonment, with the ISI, claimed the police.

“He had recently uploaded gun images on social media and had allegedly received money from his Pakistan-based handlers. We are examining the details shared with us by the Haryana Police that arrested him on May 12,” said a senior police official. “We have asked a few of his known students to help us in the investigation and also, if they have anything to reveal about his movement around the Army area," said the official.

Dhillon’s arrest comes just a week after two spies were arrested in Malerkotla for their alleged links to a Pakistani official posted at the High Commission in Delhi. These arrests come amid heightened intelligence alertness in the wake of the India-Pakistan ceasefire almost a week back.

Punjab