NEW DELHI: An Army Major has been sacked by President Droupadi Murmu for allegedly breaching security protocols while he was posted with the tri-service Strategic Forces Command, which handles the country's nuclear arsenal, in north India last year. The order for the Major's termination with immediate effect was signed by the President recently after a probe found that he was involved in several lapses that compromised national security, sources said on Tuesday.

The Major, who was under investigation since March last year, had kept a copy of classified documents on his electronic devices against military regulations, and was also allegedly in touch with a Pakistani intelligence operative through social media chats, the sources said. The SFC had earlier constituted a board of officers to conduct a preliminary probe into the matter and the Major's involvement in suspicious activities, social media violations and leakage of classified information to unauthorised persons, among other things.

The seizure of the Major's phone had also led to the discovery of a WhatsApp group, which had several military officers and spouses as its members, with suspicious and unauthorised conversations. Around 20 defence personnel, including a Brigadier, are separately facing a probe for being part of this WhatsApp group called 'Patiala Peg'. Though the Army refused to comment on being contacted by TOI on Tuesday, sources said a show cause notice has been issued to some members of the group for violation of social media policies.

Four officers of this group in the rank of Colonel and Lt-Colonel, who contend they had nothing to do with the case involving the Major, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court last year claiming that their right to privacy under the Constitution had been violated by military authorities who seized their mobile phones.