India Arrests Man Accused Of Spying For Pakistan; Sumar Khan Allegedly Gave Info On Military Exercise

Indian authorities have arrested a man they claim spied for rival Pakistan, accusing the Indian citizen of passing on information about military exercises and communicating with suspected spies.

The accused spy, Sumar Khan, 35, was arrested by police in Rajasthan and charged with sending Pakistan’s Financial Monitoring Unit information about Indian Air Force exercises that took place Friday, The Hindu reported. Khan was detained near the Chandhan field firing range, where the exercises were taking place.

“Sumar Khan was providing Pakistani intelligence with information about military activities going on at the Chandhan field firing range, Lathi and Pokharan,” said Additional Director General of Police Intelligence Dalpat Singh Dinkar.

The exercise, known as “Iron Fist,” was observed by top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee and Defense Minister A.K. Antony, the Indian English-language newspaper reported.

Dinkar said Indian authorities have evidence linking Khan to spy activities.

“He used several different mobile phone numbers and used to share strategically important information related to the country’s security with his Pakistani handling officer via coded text messages,” Dinkar said.

The Indian official said authorities had been keeping an eye on Khan during the “Iron Fist” exercise.

The BBC reported Khan called a relative in Pakistan whom India claimed works for Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Service Intelligence agency.

Khan received spy training from Pakistani intelligence when he traveled to India's rival for two months in October, according to The Hindu.

The 35-year-old, who lives in Karmon ki Dhani, appeared in court in Jaipur on Monday and was remanded into custody, the BBC reported.

The spy accusations came days after a pair of bombs exploded in a congested area of Hyderabad in what were the deadliest terror attacks on Indian soil since 2011.

“This is a dastardly attack. The guilty will not go unpunished," Singh vowed following the Thursday night blasts.