Siliguri / Alipurduar, October 31, 2026: A former Indian Army employee has been arrested by a Punjab Police team from Hasimara in Alipurduar district of West Bengal on charges of spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and sharing classified information relating to the Indian Army.
The accused has been identified as Rajbir Singh, a resident of Rasulpur village in Tarn Taran district of Punjab and a former Lance Naik. He was apprehended on Thursday from Hasimara, an area near the India-Bhutan border that houses an Indian Army cantonment. The Punjab Police team, which had been tracking him, carried out the arrest with assistance from local Hasimara police.
According to Additional Public Prosecutor Soumitra Sinha Sarkar, who appeared for the state when the accused was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Siliguri court, Punjab Police followed Singh’s trail to North Bengal. “He was arrested on charges of spying for the ISI and sharing classified information relating to our Army,” Sarkar stated. The court granted transit remand, enabling the Punjab Police to take him back to the state for further investigation. He is to be produced before the court in Fazilka.
The case was registered at Fazilka police station in Punjab on October 8, 2026, under the Official Secrets Act (sections variously cited as 3 and 4, or Section 34 in some reports). Singh is alleged to have illegally shared classified military information and intelligence inputs with the ISI, including while he was serving in the Army, and had been absconding since the FIR was filed. Investigators suspect he worked with at least one associate who remains at large. Some reports link the probe to the earlier arrest of a woman, Gurnaur Sidhu, on October 8 in the same Fazilka case for allegedly passing Army-related information to Pakistani handlers; names of Army personnel, including Singh, reportedly surfaced during her interrogation.
Hasimara’s location near the India-Bhutan border and its Army presence made it a sensitive area for the alleged activity. Police acted on a tip-off considering the national security implications. Further details of the information allegedly passed and the full extent of any network are under investigation by the Punjab Police’s State Special Operations Cell.
The arrest underscores ongoing efforts to counter espionage targeting Indian military installations and personnel. Investigations continue to trace remaining suspects.
