A Moscow-based Indian embassy staffer visiting his native Hapur for a wedding in the family was arrested by UP's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on charges of spying for Pakistan’s ISI.
Satendra Siwal (27), whom MEA deputed to the Russian capital as a security assistant in 2021, confessed to his involvement in “anti-India activities” during his interrogation in Meerut after being detained the previous evening, ATS officials said. He was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. Siwal’s arrest was based on an anonymous tip-off received by ATS. “ISI handlers have been trying to lure MEA employees with money and extract classified information, including about Indian military installations. Siwal is one of them,” ADGP (ATS) Mohit Agarwal said. After verifying the information through technical & physical surveillance, Siwal was taken for questioning to ATS's field unit in Meerut.
The accused allegedly passed on classified information related to the Indian Army and foreign and defence ministries to the ISI. Siwal was employed as a multitasking staff in the MEA. It’s not clear yet if Siwal was working only for money or if he was honey-trapped by the ISI, like several low-level staff in the past in the Indian mission in Islamabad.
