A Delhi court today remanded to four days police custody a dismissed Air Force official who was arrested for allegedly sharing secret information with intelligence operatives suspected to be backed by Pakistan’s ISI after being “honeytrapped” into an espionage racket.
Metropolitan Magistrate Punit Pahwa sent Ranjith KK, who was a leading aircraft man with the Indian Air Force posted at Bhatinda, to police custody after the Delhi Police submitted that he was required to be taken outside the national capital for interrogation.
Seeking five days custody of Ranjith, the police said they have to take him to Jaisalmer and Gwalior.
The court, however, said that four days were enough for questioning him at this stage.
Ranjith was arrested yesterday by Delhi Police from Bhatinda in Punjab and brought here on transit remand. He was dismissed recently and later on arrested after a combined operation by Delhi Police’s Crime Branch, Air Force Liaisoning Unit (LU) and Military Intelligence, police said.
Ranjith, a native of Malappuram district in Kerala, had joined IAF in 2010. He has been booked under provisions of Official Secrets Act.
The police said that “with his arrest, they have come across a honeytrapping module, backed by intelligence agents from across the border, which creates fictitious accounts (cyber entities) in popular social networking sites, pretending to be women, befriend defence personnel and officials from security forces and allegedly lure them into espionage.
( Source – PTI )
