Army launches inquiry against Lt Colonel in MP for suspected leak of classified info

The Army has launched a preliminary inquiry against a Lieutenant Colonel of the Army's Central Command here for suspected leak of classified information, an official said today. "His gadgets have been sent for forensic tests. However, the Army officer (of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers Corps) has neither been picked up nor detained so far," defence PRO of Lucknow-headquartered Central Command, Gargi Malik Sinha told PTI over phone. The inquiry was ordered on February 12 and "it is yet to be established whether it has happened inadvertently or deliberately as reported", a press release issued by the Central Command headquarters. "Reports of detention of the officer, honey trapping, money exchange at this stage are pure speculation and neither accurate nor substantiated," it said. The officer is with 506 Army Base Workshop here in Madhya Bharat area "The Army ordered the preliminary inquiry against the officer on February 12 to ascertain the facts on suspected leakage of classified information from IT devices," the release said "The officer has only been questioned as part of the ongoing inquiry and nothing else and therefore he continues to perform his duties in the unit," the statement added. Evidence related to the case, including digital evidence, has been seized and sent for forensic analysis, the release said. The Lieutenant Colonel's wife too is an Army officer. Right now, the officer in question is working with the 506 Army Base Workshop - a key defence establishment, where Bofors howitzers, among other guns, are repaired and overhauled, a former employee of the workshop said. "The workshop, with an Army Brigadier at the helm of affairs, had played a part in developing indigenously Dhanush guns, popularly known as desi Bofors, which are yet to pass the muster," he added. Colonel B P Singh, PRO of Madhya Bharat Area of Central Command of the Army, could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.