'Operation Desert Chase' Rips Pak Spy Network; Two Civil Defence Employees Held For Supplying Military Information

Two civil defence employees have been caught for providing sensitive military information to Pakistani spy networks. Operation Desert Chase was undertaken jointly by Military Intelligence(MI) and Rajasthan Police.

New Delhi: Two civil defence employees have been caught for providing information to Pakistani spies in India. The crackdown was done in a joint operation of Rajasthan police, Military Intelligence (MI)  based in Lucknow, and Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (UP ATS). The operation was called 'desert chase’. The police have caught 29-year-old Vikas Kumar and 22 -year- old Chiman Lal for working with the spies and providing them sensitive military information. According to reports, the military intelligence in Lucknow had kept an eye on Vikas Kumar and his espionage activities since August 2019.

Who was involved?

The duo Vikas Kumar and Chiman Lal worked together in acquiring and providing information on the Indian military to the Pakistani spy network. According to an IANS report, Kumar who worked as a civil defence employee at an Army Ammunition Depot was the son of retired Army personnel and belongs to Bahadurwas a village in Jhunjhunu district. While Chiman Lal who worked as a civil contractual employee of the Army's Mahajan Field Firing Range (MFFR). He belongs to Ajitmana, a village in Bikaner.

How did the agents work?

According to reports, in March or April last year Vikas Kumar received a friend request on Facebook by a Multan-based female Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO). The person while honey-trapping him pretended to be a Hindu woman 'Anoshka Chopra' based in India.

They became friendly and he was added to a WhatsApp group which was created by the Pakistani handlers using Indian mobile numbers. According to the latest reports, the group had other Indian defence personnel as well.

"Subsequently she introduced Kumar to her 'boss', Amit Kumar Singh (pseudonym used by the handler) who was also using an Indian WhatsApp number. He at times claimed to be from CSD and at times form Military Engineer Service (MES). Once Kumar and the Pakistani handler, 'Amit Kumar Singh' started communicating, 'Anoshka Chopra' deactivated her Facebook account and WhatsApp number," sources said in the IANS report.

The IANS report says that the MI Unit found that Kumar was involved in passing information related to ORBAT (Order of Battle; composition and order of a military fighting formation), ammunition (photos, state, quantity, type, arrival, departure), units coming for firing practice/ military exercise to MFFR, personality traits of senior army officers in exchange for money.

Kumar and Lal were also found providing photos of a ‘water distribution register’ at a water pump house in MFFR. This register had information about personnel in the field firing unit, water requirement for the unit, and also the strength of the unit.  Kumar used three of his bank accounts and even his brother’s account to receive payment. Their activities were halted during the lockdown. The report by IANS said Kumar received around Rs 75,000 for his work and he paid around Rs 9,000 to Lal for assisting him.

Operation desert chase

In January this year, the MI unit joined hands with Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (UP ATS) and Kumar was then monitored carefully by the agencies. The operation was also named 'Desert Chase'. In May, the agencies shared the information with Rajasthan Police Intelligence and the team analysed the findings and gathered more information.

According to reports the agencies observed that even during the lockdown there was ‘loss of critical information due to the duo’ and that fresh payments were also being made.

During the questioning at Jaipur, official sources of IANS said, Kumar confessed to having passed information about Indian military to Pakistani spy network and revealed their modus operandi.

This incident comes after Indian authorities caught and expelled from the country last week two employees of Pakistani High Commission Abid Hussain and Muhammad Tahir for espionage. During the investigation, two India railway employees were also questioned last week after it was found that they had met the Pakistani spies.