Army stands up for Major, NIA says he was a spy

NEW DELHI: THE Army has not found any evidence so far against the Major, to establish that he was part of a larger espionage network, even as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) continues to probe how confidential information from a young officer's computer reached Pakistan.

The Major, who was posted in the Andaman and Nicobar tri-service command, is under the scanner of both the NIA and the Military Intelligence. While the reports emanating from the Union Home Ministry suggest that leakage of information was serious breach of security, the Army does not believe that its officer was working for Pakistan's ISI, though they accept that the norms for internet security were breached by him.

Army sources said that the officer's computer was not hacked but it was a case of phishing, a common malpractice to acquire sensitive details like passwords.

The young officer was preparing for his staff college exams due to be held in September. "He was dealing with sensitive information and should have refrained from accessing internet through his computer," the officials said.

The Army is also holding a court of inquiry in the case and the NIA is carrying a parallel investigation.

Some of the NIA findings shared by the Home Ministry was that the Major could be booked under the Official Secrets Act as sensitive files were transferred from his computer to an ISI operative.

It was also claimed that some of the files were deleted even when his computer was taken under custody. It was implied that the Major could not be the only one involved in the network.

The Army said that these claims have been made verbally only and nothing has been put on paper by the NIA so far. Even the forensic examination report of the Major's computer has not been shared.

The transfer of data from India to Pakistan was detected by US agencies and the Indian intelligence agencies were alerted. The Major was summoned to New Delhi and was still under scanner.

The Army said that the normal procedure in such cases would be followed and after the court of inquiry, summary of evidence would be held, followed by court martial.