ANI national security editor Ajit Kumar Dubey has been the news maker in the WhatsApp groups of Indian army personnel. These have been abuzz with messages calling Dubey a journalist who has been frequently “infiltrating” the army’s internal and coursemates groups.  

The detailed message mentions Dubey’s number, along with his LinkedIn profile and photograph, asking officers to remove him at the earliest. One such message seen by Newslaundry stated, “This guy needs a big kick.”  

The editor’s contact was saved as “infiltrator journo Ajit Dubey”. 

Dubey entered these groups “by hiding his identity,” said a source in the Ministry of Defence. The message to “remove him” was being sent to almost all of the army’s groups, they said. “It has also reached the personal WhatsApp groups of officers.”

Newslaundry spoke to the officers of at least five such groups, while the defence ministry source said Dubey was ousted from at least a dozen WhatsApp groups of army personnel. 

The message in these groups said: “This guy is an ANI journalist who has been frequently infiltrating army WhatsApp groups. Sometime back he was discovered in our coursemates group during a routine check and was kicked out. Now he has been found in yet another army group. God knows what information he has been privy to. Please save his number and check all army