Carton of smoke bombs stolen from special train

A carton containing smoke bombs was stolen from a special train carrying Army personnel, police said on Monday.

The sensational matter came to light weeks after a Jhansi collectorate clerk, who was under the scanner of the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), was booked for allegedly leaking information to suspected Pakistan-based spies, including those associated with the InterServices Intelligence (ISI).

The train from Pulgaon in Maharashtra, which was on its way to Pathankot in Punjab, had stopped outside the Jhansi railway station on Sunday when the Army personnel detected the seal of one of the coaches broken and a carton containing smoke bombs missing, circle officer (CO) Sharad Pratap Singh said here.

A case in this regard was lodged with the Government Railway Police (GRP) and an investigation was on, he said, adding that the incident was said to have taken place between Bina in Madhya Pradesh and the Jhansi railway station as the train had taken several brief halts while crossing the stretch.

Earlier this month, Raghavendra Ahirwar, a stenographer posted at the Jhansi collectorate, was booked under different sections of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for allegedly passing on classified information about the movement of Army units at the Babina Cantonment to a “mysterious” caller who identified himself as “Major Yadav”.

Ahirwar was under the UP ATS scanner for allegedly sharing information with suspected Pakistan-based spies.

During the investigation, sleuths found out that “Major Yadav” used to make Internet calls to Ahirwar and had spoofed a local number through a SIM box. The spy, who was interested in the details of the Army units that had reached the Babina Cantonment for firing practice, was reportedly in touch with Ahirwar since 2009.

Ahirwar was never able to call “Major Yadav” back as the calls from the latter were always placed over the internet and only nine digits, instead of 10, flashed on his mobile screen.

“Major Yadav” had reportedly told him that because of the confidential nature of his job, he was not authorised to receive phone calls. Based on specific inputs, the ATS landed at Jhansi earlier this month and started keeping an eye on Ahirwar’s movements.

The sleuths subsequently detained him for questioning and seized his cell phone, computer, hard disk and pen drive.

The bank accounts of Ahirwar and his close relatives were also scanned to detect any “unusual” transaction. Ahirwar was not arrested since no proof of money changing hands surfaced during the preliminary probe.

Inspector General (IG), ATS, Asim Arun said, “Passing on sensitive information to a mysterious person is a criminal offence. Ahirwar was not passing on secrets in exchange for money, but what he did was illegal. Sections 3, 4, 5 and 9 of the OSA were slapped against him and we will pursue the case.”

With a massive firing range, Babina is among the most vital Army installations in the country, where hundreds of Army units practise with latest artillery. The Army authorities at the Babina Cantonment always marked the letters as “highly confidential” or “restricted information”, while exchanging inputs with the Jhansi collectorate, and Ahirwar had access to the communiques. The role of the other officials at the SDM office was also being probed.