Samastipur/ Patna : A 26-year-old man from Bihar has been detained by the Indian Army from Bathinda Cantonment in Punjab on suspicion of espionage, after chats with a Pakistani woman were allegedly discovered on his phone. The arrest comes in the wake of heightened security across the country following the recent Pahalgam attack.
The suspect, identified as Sunil Kumar Ram, hails from Samastipur and had been working as a private cobbler in Bathinda Cantt since 2017. He was handed over to the local police by military authorities, who reportedly recovered WhatsApp messages from a Pakistani number on his mobile device.
Bathinda City Superintendent of Police, Narinder Singh, urged caution against jumping to conclusions. “It is too early to confirm if he is a spy,” he said. “We are forensically examining the phone to understand what kind of contact he had, what information may have been exchanged, and whether he was a victim of a honeytrap.”
Police suspect Ram may have unknowingly been caught in an intelligence-gathering operation, with Singh noting the possibility of cyber fraud. “It’s possible someone impersonated a woman and deceived him into communication. Such cases of mobile fraud are not uncommon,” he added.
Sunil, who has resided in Bathinda’s Dhobiana Basti for over a decade, worked in the cantonment alongside his brother and maternal uncle, both cobblers. Authorities say he had no official access to military secrets, but the sensitive nature of his work location has raised red flags.
The Bathinda Police have filed a case under Section 52 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), related to criminal conspiracy. Investigations are ongoing.
Bathinda Cantonment, one of Asia’s largest military stations, is home to the Indian Army’s X Corps and several operational units. Established in 1942, it has played a key role in past conflicts, including the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971.
