4 February 2024
The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested an employee of the Indian Embassy in Moscow for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. He was arrested in Meerut. The arrested individual, identified as Satendra Siwal, was working as a Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) in the Ministry of External Affairs, NDTV reported on Sunday.
The report added that the operation unfolded as ATS received intelligence from confidential sources suggesting that ISI handlers were luring Indian Ministry of External Affairs employees, offering financial incentives in exchange for sensitive information related to the Indian Army. The information being exchanged posed a grave threat to India’s internal and external security, the agency said.
Satendra Siwal, a resident of Shahmahiuddinpur village in Hapur, was identified as a key player in this espionage network. He was allegedly extracting confidential documents by exploiting his position within the Indian Embassy in Moscow. The accused, motivated by greed for money, allegedly passed critical information concerning the strategic activities of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, and Indian military establishments to ISI handlers.
“The ATS was receiving intelligence from various confidential sources that the handlers of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, through some persons, were luring the employees of the Ministry of External Affairs with money to obtain strategically and strategically important information related to the Indian Army that is likely to pose a huge threat to the internal and external security of India,” the agency said in a statement.
Following extensive intelligence gathering and surveillance, Satendra Siwal was summoned to the ATS Field Unit in Meerut for interrogation. During questioning, he reportedly failed to provide satisfactory answers, eventually confessing to his involvement in spy activities. Satendra Siwal has been working as an India Based Security Assistant (IBSA) at the Indian Embassy in Moscow since 2021.
An FIR has been registered against Siwal under sections of waging war against the country and also under sections of the Official Secrets Act. The Ministry of External Affairs said that it is aware of Satendra Siwal’s arrest and is working with the investigative authorities in the case, the report said.
