Indian army man arrested in new Pakistan spy row

Indian police have arrested a man working for the army in the capital as he handed classified military documents to a Pakistani official, a senior police officer said yesterday, triggering a strong Pakistani protest.

Anil Kumar Dubey, who police said worked in the army's insurance directorate, was detained on Friday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar told Reuters.

A police statement said Dubey had been "collecting information regarding the movement and deployment of the Indian army and transmitting sensitive and secret information regarding the Indian army to a hostile foreign agent".

It identified the Pakistani as Mohammad Farooq, who it said was an agent of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), posted at the country's mission in New Delhi.

Farooq was caught accepting secret defence documents and computer CDs from Dubey in southwest New Delhi, the statement said, something it alleged had been going on for four or five months in return for money. A source in the Indian government confirmed the arrest but gave no further information.