Another ordnance unit staffer arrested for allegedly leaking info to ISI handler

: The UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested an employee posted at the Kanpur-based ordnance factory on charges of espionage for allegedly leaking classified information to a Pakistani intelligence unit handler connected to him through Facebook and WhatsApp.

This comes nearly a week after a Firozabad ordnance factory staffer was arrested from Lucknow on March 13 for alleged involvement in espionage activities. In a press note shared with media, the UP ATS officials said the accused arrested on Wednesday was identified as Vikas Kumar (38), who was posted as a junior works manager at the Kanpur ordnance factory for over 10 years.

The officials also said inputs about Vikas Kumar’s involvement in sharing crucial informations with ISI handlers surfaced while exploring the links of people associated with the fake Facebook profile of Neha Sharma, who had honey-trapped Ravindra Kumar, 45, an employee of the Firozabad Ordnance Factory, to procure information from him. Ravindra Kumar was arrested after he was called for interrogation to the UP ATS headquarters in Lucknow on March 13.

The officials said Vikas Kumar was also in touch with the Facebook profile of Neha Sharma since January 2025. They said Kumar communicated with the suspected ISI handler using the LUDO application and shared several pieces of information related to production charts, employees’ attendance sheets and pictures of factory interiors.

Vikas Kumar was arrested under Section 148 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which addresses conspiracy to commit offences punishable under Section 147, which deals with waging or attempting to wage war against the Government of India or abetting such actions, senior ATS officials said in the press note.

Charges under appropriate sections of Official Secrets Act 1923 have been slapped against him as well, the press note further said.“Similar to Ravindra Kumar, Vikas Kumar apparently got into espionage after falling into the honey trap laid by Pakistan’s secret agency by connecting to him through the fake profile of a woman Neha Sharma. The woman interacted with the accused through Facebook platform and later started chatting with him through WhatsApp and voice calling him. The woman obtained crucial information by blackmailing him as well as by luring him to earn a fast buck,” the officials stated.

The officials said the ATS retrieved some important documents and information from the WhatsApp chat of the accused.Five such documents were found to have been shared with the ISI handler who he was chatting with for the past two months, the officials added.