NIA charge sheets Pak ISI’s Mumbai operative in honey-trap conspiracy case
The ISI operatives had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to honey trap Indian Navy personnel to gather secret information on India’s military establishments
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charge sheeted Mumbai resident Amaan Salim Shaikh, a key accused who was arrested on November 20 last year from Mumbai in connection with a conspiracy by Pakistani intelligence operatives to honey trap Indian Navy personnel to gather secret information on defence establishments, the agency said in an official statement on Friday (May 17).
The central counter-terror agency filed a supplementary charge sheet on Thursday (May 16) in an NIA special court in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, against Shaikh under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA said.
SIM cards for ISI operatives
Shaikh was found to be involved in activating SIM cards that were used by Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) officers involved in the racket, which came to light when the Vijayawada counter-intelligence cell registered a case in the matter on January 12, 2021, according to the NIA.
The NIA, which took over the case on June 5 last year, found during investigation that Shaikh was working for a suspected Pakistani agent, Usman, to further the anti-India conspiracy.
Other operatives
He was also receiving money from other suspected Pakistani ISI operatives, including Meer Balaj Khan, Alven and other individuals, through crypto channels for completing tasks assigned by the Pakistani intelligence operatives, the NIA said in the statement.
Khan and Alven, both Pakistani nationals, are absconding.
On November 6 last year, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet against two other accused – Manmohan Surendra Panda and Alven. Panda had been arrested earlier in the case related to the leak of classified defence information to the operatives of Pakistan spy agency ISI.
(With agency inputs)
