Singh was in constant tough with his ISI handlers in Pakistan and used to receive around Rs 9 lakh for each “report”. He was lured by ISI agents through money as he was under debt when he had first visited Islamabad with the diplomat in 2015

LUCKNOW: A day after getting the remand of an ISI agent arrested from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) officials said on Thursday that he used “spyware” to steal vital information from the laptop of the diplomat he was working under. The accused, Ramesh Singh (35), had gone with the diplomat — a defence attache — as a cook and compromised the security of his residence in Islamabad, the officials said.

ADG (Law & Order) Anand Kumar said even after coming back to India in 2017, Singh was in constant touch with his ISI handlers in Pakistan and used to receive around Rs 9 lakh for each “report”. He was lured by ISI agents through money as he was under debt when he had first visited Islamabad with the diplomat in 2015.

“Ramesh Singh used spyware to steal information from the laptop and computer of the diplomat and other hi-tech tools. He was given a special phone by the ISI to share information which has been recovered along with three SIM cards from Pakistan,” said Kumar, adding he had allowed the ISI to enter the diplomat’s residence.

Singh was arrested in a joint operation of UP ATS, military intelligence and Uttarakhand police on Tuesday from Garali village of Pithoragarh district. He was produced in a Pithoragarh court on Wednesday from where he was brought to Lucknow on transit remand by the ATS.

He was a farmer in his village when his brother, who is in the Indian Army, managed to get him the cook’s job at the diplomat’s house in 2015, said the ATS officials. He worked from mid-2015 to September 2017 at the residence of the Indian diplomat in Islamabad.

IG ATS Asim Arun said: “We are probing how much money was paid to Singh and what specific information he had disclosed to the ISI.”