HP man among 2 jailed in Navy spying case

Two more accused, including a native of Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district, have been sentenced to simple imprisonment in the Pakistan-linked Visakhapatnam Navy espionage case by a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The NIA special court at Visakhapatnam has sentenced and jailed Kalavalapalli Konda Babu of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Avinash Somal of Kangra (Himachal Pradesh) to five years and 10 months of simple imprisonment under Sections 18 of UA(P) Act and Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act.

The court has also imposed fine of Rs 5,000 each.

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

Babu and Somal were arrested in December 2019 from Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Karwar (Karnataka).

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

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