The Ministry of External Affairs on February 4 announced that it is working with the relevant investigative authorities after an employee at the Indian Embassy in Russia was arrested on charges of passing military secrets to Pakistani agents.
“MEA is aware of the arrest of Satendra Siwal in Uttar Pradesh, who was posted as Security Assistant in Embassy of India, Moscow. MEA continues to work with the investigative authorities in the matter,” said a source familiar with the development within the Ministry.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh ATS had informed in a press release that Siwal who was visiting home was arrested from Hapur after they learnt that he had been passing information to the “handlers” of Pakistani ISI about the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, the Indian embassy and Indian military installations. Siwal, who was earlier based in New Delhi was posted in the Indian mission in Moscow since 2021 as an India Based Security Assistant (IBSA).
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He was hired as a Multi-Tasking Staff in the MEA and his position was comparable to that of an office attendant or runner.
It is not yet clear how Siwal ended up passing information to the Pakistani ISI as claimed by the U.P. ATS but according to one theory in the official circles, he was probably honey-trapped through social media apps or was broken into through financial rewards. U.P. ATS interrogated him in the Field Unit in Meerut where his answers were found to be unsatisfactory. The press release claimed that he passed on information to the ISI in exchange of money.
Moscow is an important mission from the defence point of view as a significant part of Indian military hardware is sourced from Russia and bilateral relation with Russia has boomed since Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022. The case involving Siwal has come up after nearly 14 years of the Madhuri Gupta case which involved a Pakistani angle. Gupta who was stationed in Pakistan was arrested in Delhi after she came home on a short vacation.
It was alleged that she was trapped by the Pakistani intelligence officials who were using her to access official information. Madhuri Gupta however claimed to be innocent. She spent several years in prison and passed away at the age of 64 in 2021 in Delhi.
