Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 17: Principal Sessions Judge Jammu Sanjeev Gupta has rejected the bail application of Pankaj Sharma of Tarore, Samba, who was working as an operative of Pakistani intelligence agencies.
He was arrested on 4.03.3020 for sending photographs of the vital installations of Indian territory through Facebook messenger to Pakistan ISI agency in lieu of money thereby affecting the security, integrity and sovereignty of the country.
He was apprehended near bypass road Narwal while riding on a motorcycle and during the course of investigation he disclosed that he was working as Accounts Assistant with one Vasu Sharma at Narwal Mandi and he came into contact with one Captain Jyoti Sharma on being introduced by his neighbour namely Balwinder Sharma, an army personnel.
Thereafter he added Captain Jyoti Sharma to his Facebook friends and started chatting with her who told him that she was on peace mission at Sudan and presently holding the rank of Captain in the Indian Army. It was further disclosed by the petitioner-accused that both of them developed liking for each other by sharing photos and posts on Facebook and became very close friends in a very short span of time.
The petitioner-accused also disclosed that after few months Captain Jyoti Sharma introduced her senior namely Major Amit Sharma on Facebook messenger and they too became very close friends. On the persuasion of Major Amit Sharma petitioner-accused started sending pictures of the vital installations which include Tarore Bridge at National Highway, AIIMS construction site etc so that they can be highlighted in media at Sudan, in lieu of which petitioner-accused received an amount of Rs 6000 on 27.04.2015 in his SBI account.
The petitioner-accused had sent pictures of Samba City, Bari Brahmna, Ujj Bridge, Vijaypur market, Bari Brahmna, Railway Station, Ghagwal Bridge, Pargwal Nallah, movement of army before the Balakote strike and pictures of trains boarded with army personnel at Railway Station Bari Brahmna.
During investigation, 14 suspicious bank transactions of different amounts were noticed whereby accused received Rs 1,23,000 through NEFT mainly from Dubai and also from two suspicious persons namely Srinivas Nyavana and Mohd Nizamud both residents of Dubai and also from one Amol Asaram Sakhara R/o Khalapuri, Maharashtra.
The investigation culminated into the filing of the final report in the court after it was established that petitioner-accused was lured by Captain Jyoti Sharma (fake Id) and Major Amit Sharma (also fake ID on Facebook) to sent pictures of the roads, vital installations, bridges, hospital, roads, leading roads towards border and army installations in lieu of money.
After hearing Public Prosecutor Kulbhushan Sharma for the UT, the court observed, “the crime for which the petitioner-accused has been indicted was committed by him in pursuance to a well hatched conspiracy with the other accused, which is a serious offence having grave ramifications so far as the defence of our country is concerned”.
“By his act, petitioner-accused compromised the security of the country and it is a crime with very wide and huge repercussions for the entire nation”, the court said while rejecting the bail application.
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