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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) with the assistance of local police has arrested three more accused in the Pakistani ISI-linked Visakhapatnam espionage case involving sensitive and classified Naval defence information. The accused were arrested on Tuesday from Karnataka and Kerala.
Vethan Laxman Tandel and Akshay Ravi Naik were picked up from Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka while Abhilash PA was arrested from Kochi in Kerala, the NIA said. With these, the total arrests in the case have gone up to eight. The agency said that "all the three arrested accused were found to have been in contact with Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) through social media." "They were sharing sensitive information about Indian defence establishments at Karwar Naval Base and Kochi Naval Base, and were receiving money from PIOs in exchange of the information," said the NIA. NIA has so far chargesheeted five persons, including two absconding Pakistani operatives, in the case that was originally registered by the Counter Intelligence Cell, Andhra Pradesh, in January 2021 under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and section 3 of Official Secrets Act. NIA investigations have revealed that "Pakistani national Meer Balaj Khan, along with an arrested accused Akash Solanki, was involved in the espionage racket relating to leakage of sensitive vital information pertaining to the Indian Navy, as part of an anti-India conspiracy." Besides, Meer Balaj and Solanki, NIA has chargesheeted another absconding PIO, identified as Alven, Manmohan Surendra Panda and Amaan Salim Shaikh in the case, which it took over in June 2023. "The anti-terror agency is continuing to probe the case to unravel the complete espionage conspiracy by Pak-based and other anti-national elements," it added. (ANI)
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