NIA Cracks Down on Pakistan-Led Espionage Case Across India

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted extensive searches in multiple locations in a massive crackdown on the Pakistan-led Visakhapatnam espionage case. NIA searched multiple locations in seven states across India and seized a host of sensitive documents, the agency said on Thursday.

A total of 16 locations in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana were searched by the agency on August 28, in a case related to the leakage of classified defence information through a Pakistani ISI espionage racket. The premises searched by the NIA teams were linked with suspects who had received money from Pakistan to undertake spying activities in India, said the anti-terror agency.

As per the NIA, its raiding team seized a total of 22 mobile phones and a host of sensitive documents during the searches. The case involved the leakage of sensitive vital information pertaining to the Indian Navy as part of a conspiracy hatched from across the border. The NIA took over the case in July 2023 which was originally registered in January 2021 by the Counter Intelligence Cell of Andhra Pradesh Police.

NIA had filed a chargesheet against two accused on July 19, 2023, identified as Meer Balaj Khan, an absconding Pakistani national, and Akash Solanki. The investigation revealed that both the people had been involved in the espionage racket. On November 6 of last year, the NIA had filed a supplementary chargesheet against two other accused, identified as Manmohan Surendra Panda and Alven. Panda has been reportedly arrested while Alven, an alleged Pakistani intelligence operative, is absconding. Further, on May 2024, NIA filed a second supplementary chargesheet against another accused, Aman Salim Shaikh, who was allegedly conspiring with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives.

Earlier, a former Indian Army personnel from Uttar Pradesh had also been convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment by the NIA Special Court in a Pakistan-operated espionage case. The person identified as Saurabh Sharma had been sentenced to five years of imprisonment, a statement by NIA said. Sharma had been arrested with another accused, Anas Yakub Giteli, a Gujarat resident.