The raids pertained to the probe in the case of some Indian nationals having received money from Pakistan to undertake spying activities in India, the NIA said in a statement.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has raided 16 locations across seven states in its investigation in the the case of leaking of India’s defence secrets via a Pakistan-based spy racket. As per an official statement issued Thursday, NIA teams on Wednesday searched premises linked to suspects involved in the espionage racket.
“Extensive searches were conducted at 16 locations in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana in the case related to leakage of classified defence information through a Pakistani ISI espionage racket,” the anti-terror agency said.
According to the statement, a total of 22 mobile phone along with a slew of sensitive documents, were seized during the raids conducted by NIA sleuths across seven states.
The raids pertained to the probe in the case of some Indian nationals having received money from Pakistan to undertake spying activities in India. The case, originally registered in January 2021 by the counter-intelligence cell of Andhra Pradesh, was taken over by the central probe agency in July last year.
According to the NIA statement, the case involves the leakage of sensitive vital information pertaining to the Indian Navy as part of an anti-India conspiracy hatched from across the border.
On July 19, 2023, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against two accused– Akash Solanki, a Indian citizen, and a Pakistani national identified as Meer Balaj Khan. The central agency, citing investigations, revealed that Solanki and Khan had been running a spy racket in India and leaking critical defence secrets to Pakistan, adding that while Solanki has been arrested, Khan remains absconding.
Later, on November 6, 2023, the NIA had filed a supplementary charge sheet against two other accused persons, Manmohan Surendra Panda and Alven.
While Panda has been arrested, Alven, a Pakistani intelligence operative, is on the run, the statement said.
In May 2024, the NIA filed its second supplementary charge sheet against one accused, Amaan Salim Shaikh, for conspiring with Pakistan intelligence operatives, it added.
(With PTI inputs)
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