By Archita Srivastava
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) employee was arrested for providing information of Indian fighter aircraft to the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Agency, Maharashtra Police said on Friday.
The man provided the ISI with classified knowledge about the Indian fighter aircraft and their manufacturing unit, a police statement said.
The Nashik Unit of the State Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had received credible intelligence about the man who was in frequent contact with the ISI, the statement said.
The man provided classified information about the Indian fighter aircraft and their confidential data, along with information on the HAL aircraft manufacturing unit in Ojhar near Nashik, the airbase, and the prohibited area inside the manufacturing unit, according to reports stated by the Police.
An offence under the Official Secrets Act has been reported against a 41-year-old man, the official said, as per PTI.
The police gave further details of the arrest, he was arrested by officials of Nashik ATS from his house in Nashik. Three cell phones were confiscated along with five SIM cards and two memory cards, phones and SIM cards were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis, he added.
The accused was brought before the court on Friday and sentenced to ten days in ATS detention, report says.
The Nashik Aircraft Division of HAL, founded in 1964 for the licence manufacture of MiG-21FL aircraft and K-13 missiles, is located in Ojhar, 24 km from Nashik and 200 km from Mumbai.
The division also developed other MiG models such as MiG-21 M, MiG-21 BIS, MiG-27 M and the state-of-the-art Su-30 MKI fighter jet.
The division is also responsible for the overhaul of the MiG series aircraft and the Repair and Overhaul (ROH) of the Su-30 MKI aircraft.
