Indian embassy employee arrested for spying sent to judicial custody

The accused was presented before the court of Additional Session Judge VS Tripathi, who sent him to judicial custody earlier in the day.

A court here on Monday sent an Indian embassy staffer arrested for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI to judicial custody till February 7.

The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday said it arrested Satendra Siwal, a resident of the state’s Hapur district, in Lucknow after questioning as he could not give satisfactory answers and confessed his crime. Siwal has been working as an IBSA (India-Based Security Assistant) in the Indian embassy in Moscow since 2021. An FIR was lodged at the ATS police station in Gomtinagar on February 3 against Siwal under section 121A (waging war against the country) of the IPC and sections 3,5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act.

The accused was presented before the court of Additional Session Judge VS Tripathi, who sent him to judicial custody earlier in the day. The ATS filed a plea for Siwal’s police custody, and the judge ordered that the man be presented in court on Tuesday for the hearing on the same. The ATS has alleged that Siwal provided confidential information regarding the strategic activities of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian military establishments to the ISI for money.