ISLAMABAD, April 19: An official of the Indian High Commission, A.K. Khanna, was caught red-handed while receiving sensitive documents from a Pakistani national working at the Federal Secretariat, Foreign Office said in a press statement issued here on Friday.

The Foreign Office said the Secretariat Police arrested the Indian High Commission official and his Pakistani accomplice at 9am on Friday near the Diplomatic Enclave.

Mr Khanna was handed over to the Indian High Commission after questioning, the foreign office said, adding, his accomplice would be tried under the relevant laws.

Later, to a question if the Indian official would be expelled, Additional Secretary Foreign Affairs, Kamran Niaz said: “No final decision has so far been taken in this regard.”

When contacted, Secretariat Police Station sources said the official of the Indian High Commission was initially detained on suspicion of involvement in the Protestant International Church blast case but was later handed over to the Indian Embassy.

“The Indian official was having a meeting with a Pakistani national present in the green belt near the Protestant Church,” a police official said.

Later, the detained Indian High Commission official was charged with spying for RAW but on the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Office he was released, police officials at the Secretariat Police Station said.

To a question, the police officials said Mr Khanna confessed during interrogation that he was a RAW agent and was receiving a document from his Pakistani source. The name of the Pakistani source, who managed to escape from the site, as given by the Indian official, was Zafar Pervez, they said.

Anil Kumar Khanna was handed over to the officials of the Indian High Commission at 5pm, the sources said.

The first secretary and the chief security officer of the Indian High Commission were present at the Secretariat Police Station when the official was handed over to them. When asked if Mr Khanna was tortured during detention, the police officials said the detained official was neither tortured nor abused.