NIA arrests conspirator in 2019 espionage case
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 6
The anti-terror probe agency, NIA, today said it had arrested key conspirator Abdul Rehman Abdul Jabbar Sheikh (53), a resident of Mumbai, in connection with the infamous Visakhapatnam espionage case, which involved 11 naval personnel allegedly leaking sensitive information to Pakistan’s external intelligence agency ISI.
An NIA spokesperson said Sheikh was allegedly involved in terror funding along with his arrested wife Shaista Qaiser and others. Officials seized a number of digital devices and incriminating documents from his house, he added.
The Intelligence Bureau (IB), along with other agencies, had busted the espionage racket in December last year.
This is the 15th arrest in the case. Mohammed Haroon Haji Abdul Rehman Lakdawala, a resident of Mumbai, was arrested last month.
The NIA, in an official release last month, had said, “An investigation revealed that a few Navy personnel came in contact with Pakistani nationals through various social media platforms, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, and were involved in sharing classified information in lieu of monetary gains. The money was deposited into their bank accounts through Indian associates having business interests in Pakistan.”
