Rajasthan Police on Saturday arrested Ramniwas Gaura, a civil defence employee at a Military Engineering Services (MES) unit in Niwaru, Rajasthan for working as an espionage agent of a (ISI)Pakistani intelligence agency. This after police were tipped off by intelligence input provided by Military Intelligence (MI) Jaipur.
What happened
According to sources, in the month of September 2020, MI Jaipur learnt about an espionage agent in Niwaru who was passing military information to his handlers in Pakistan. The individual was identified as 28-year-old Ramniwas Gaura, a civil motor driver working with MES.
It was learnt that Ramniwas was in contact with one Pakistan Intelligence Operator (PIO) of ISI named Ekta also known as (AKA) Jasmeet Kour through Facebook and Whatsapp. During his two years’ contact with the PIO, he shared information about units, ormation at Niwaru and Jaipur. Information about various officials and personnel posted at Niwaru and Jaipur was also shared.
The case details were shared with Police HQ Jaipur & a joint operation was planned to apprehend Ramniwas Gaura.
A joint team was formed with Jaipur Police Intelligence and MI Jaipur, and all the findings were analysed again. Further details were acquired and conclusive evidence was gathered. The individual was eventually detained on 30 Oct & questioning was carried out by the team.
Honey-trapped on Facebook, WhatsApp
During the questioning, Ramniwas reportedly confessed that he had received a friend request from the PIO’s Facebook profile, ‘Ekta’ in the month of February – March 2020 and had accepted the same. They became very friendly, shared their WhatsApp numbers with each other and started chatting and making audio/ video calls.
The PIO used to use an Indian WhatsApp number and claim she is working with Principal Controller of Defence Account (PCDA) Shimla. After an initial friendly chat, Ekta started talking to Ramniwasto gather information of military nature which he readily shared and agreed to help in monetarily. Ramniwas, for monetary favours, shared his account details with Ekta and in March 2020 asked for Rs 10,000.
Further details are being examined by Jaipur Police Intelligence and MI. Other agencies have also joined the investigation after the arrest.
The individual is to be produced before a local court soon by the police. A police remand will be taken for further examination. More arrests are not ruled out.
