Retired IAF Officer Arrested In Assam For Alleged Links With Pakistan Espionage Network

A retired Indian Air Force personnel was arrested in Assam’s Sonitpur district on Saturday for alleged links with Pakistani intelligence operatives, according to police.

The accused has been identified

as Kulendra Sarma, who was taken into custody after sustained surveillance and preliminary investigation by the police. Police sources told NDTV that they were keeping a close eye on the suspect and recovered suspicious materials from his laptop.

Additional Superintendent of Police Haricharan Bhumij said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had shared sensitive documents and information with Pakistani operatives over social media. Police have seized his laptop and mobile phone.

Before retiring in 2002, Sarma served as a Junior Warrant Officer at the Air Force Station in Tezpur, which hosts key air assets, including a Sukhoi-30 squadron. After his retirement, he briefly worked at the Electionics Department of the Tezpur University.

The devices have been sent for forensic examination, though some data has been deleted, Bhumij said. The officer said a case has been registered under the relevant sections of the BNS.

This came after a woman and her three associates were arrested in Tezpur in Assam’s Sonitpur district over their alleged links with Pakistan. The matter has triggered widespread concern due to the town’s strategic significance as the headquarters of the Indian Army’s IV Corps (Gajraj Corps).

According to officials, the arrest stems from a suspected overseas money-laundering operation. “We filed a case of suspicious laundering of funds from an overseas transaction on December 5, 2025. Accordingly, we arrested four people, including the prime accused, a local lady. Nine months ago, she was married to a Pakistani citizen and he directed her course of action,” an investigator said.

Villagers have demanded a thorough probe and strict punishment for all involved. The four accused have been sent to judicial custody as the investigation continues.

(with agency inputs)