BALASORE: Asif Ali, an accused in the 2015 Chandipur missile base data leak case, was produced before the JMFC Court here on Friday after 10 years.
He was brought from Meerut under tight security and remanded in judicial custody after the court rejected his bail plea.
In 2015, it was revealed that sensitive information from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur was being passed on to Pakistan’s ISI, creating nationwide uproar. On January 22 the same year, police arrested Ishwar Behera, a contractual photographer at ITR for espionage. In February 2021, the Balasore ADJ court sentenced Behera to life imprisonment.
After a decade, Asif, was produced before the Balasore court. Police said Asif had posed as a senior defence scientist, and collected sensitive information from ITR through Behera. He is accused of sending the information to Pakistan and paying Behera for his role.
Asif was lodged in Meerut jail in connection with another case, and hence could not be produced before the Balasore court. Later, the JMFC court here issued a production warrant to Meerut authorities, following which he was produced in the court on Friday.
Public Prosecutor Bhavashankar Sahu said serious charges, including criminal conspiracy, have been filed against Asif.