NIA sentences 2 more in Pak-linked Visakhapatnam Navy spying case

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Two more accused persons have been sentenced to Simple Imprisonment (SI) in the Pakistan-linked Visakhapatnam Navy espionage case by a Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), an official said on Tuesday.

The NIA Special Court at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) has sentenced Kalavalapalli Konda Babu of Visakhapatnam District (Andhra Pradesh) and Aviansh Somal of Kangra District (Himachal Pradesh) to 5 years and 10 months of SI under each of sections 18 of UA(P) Act and section 3 of the Official Secrets Act.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each, and in the event of default of payment, the accused persons will have to undergo an additional one-year SI in the case, said an NIA statement.

With this, a total of six accused persons have been convicted and sentenced in the case so far, relating to spying at vital installations and Indian Navy establishments by foreign spies/agents with the intent to threaten its unity, integrity, security and sovereignty.

The two accused, now convicted and sentenced, were arrested in December 2019 from Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Karwar (Karnataka) respectively in the case RC-05/2019/NIA/HYD.

The NIA investigations revealed that they were in touch with foreign intelligence agencies through WhatsApp, and were involved in the sharing of sensitive and classified information related to Indian Defence establishments and deployments.

As per investigations, both men had come in contact with Pakistan intelligence agents through Facebook initially.

They had received monetary benefits instead of secret and classified information from Pak agents through accused Abdul Rehman, Haroon Lakdawala, Shaista Qaiser and Imran Giteli, who were convicted in the case earlier this year.

These four accused were found to have deposited various amounts into the accounts of accused persons on the directions of Pak Intelligence Agents as part of the espionage conspiracy, said the statement.

The NIA, which took over the investigation from the Counter-Intelligence Police Station, Intelligence Department, Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh Police) in December 2019, had arrested a total of 15 accused persons over the years.

In June 2020, the agency had chargesheeted 14 accused persons, followed by a supplementary chargesheet against one more accused person in March 2021.

--IANS

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