UP ATS Arrests Indian Staffer at Embassy in Moscow
Satendra Siwal, a resident of Shah Mohiuddinpur village in Hapur, was arrested at the ATS police station in Lucknow, an ATS statement said on Sunday. He was called by the ATS Meerut field unit and interrogated, could not give satisfactory answers, and confessed to his crime during the interrogation, the statement further said.
Siwal, an employee of the external affairs ministry, has been working as a Grade 4 employee, multi-tasking staff (MTS), in the Indian embassy in Moscow since 2021. While the ATS is still ascertaining the magnitude of the spying done by him, it is possible he may have provided documents related to Indo-Russian military cooperation.
“The Ministry of External Affairs is aware of the arrest of Satendra Siwal in UP, who was posted as a security assistant in the Embassy of India, Moscow. The MEA continues to work with the investigative authorities in the matter,” a source said.
Apart from picking up corridor chit-chat, handling the movement of files, and having access to important documents in transit, the MTS staff and clerks are the target of the ISI since they are fairly easy to trap.
The ATS in its probe through electronic and physical surveillance found that he was involved in anti-India activities with the network of the ISI handlers and allegedly providing important confidential information on the strategic activities of the defence ministry, external affairs ministry, and Indian military establishments.
“Siwal was allegedly extracting confidential documents by exploiting his position within the Indian embassy. Motivated by greed for money, he extracted critical information about the Indian Army,” the statement by the UP ATS said.
An FIR has been registered against Siwal at ATS police station, Lucknow, under Section 121A of the IPC (waging war against the country) and the Official Secrets Act 1923, the statement said.