An employee of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), Nashik has been arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Nashik Unit on charges of spying for Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

The ATS said the arrested employee was supplying information about Indian fighter aircraft and their manufacturing unit at HAL Nashik. The HAL employee was arrested by the Nashik unit of the Maharashtra ATS for supplying secret information to Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
The logo of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is seen on the facade of the company's heritage centre in Bengaluru, India, March 28, 2018.REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa

The HAL staffer has been accused of supplying confidential and sensitive information about Indian fighter aircraft and the manufacturing facilities in Nashik, said Additional DGP (ATS) Deven Bharti.

Sustained interrogation of the accused revealed that he was in regular contact with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and passing on secret and sensitive details, information about the HAL manufacturing unit at Ozar, the Indian Air Force airbase here, and the prohibited areas within the unit.

"An offence under Official Secrets Act, 1923, Sec. 3, 4 & 5, has been registered against the accused. We have seized three mobile handsets with five SIM cards and two memory cards which have been sent for forensic examination," Bharti said.

The accused was produced before a Special ATS Court in Nashik, which has remanded him to 10 days police custody, said ATS DIG Jayant Naiknavre.

Further investigations into the entire racket is underway with the possibility of others being involved.

(to be updated)