VIJAYAWADA: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed supplementary chargesheet in the Visakhapatnam naval espionage case naming an alleged ISI operative from Godhra in Gujarat for raising funds for espionage activities in India. According to the agency, the alleged ISI operative deposited money in the bank accounts of Navy personnel to get “sensitive and strategic information”.
The chargesheet was filed against Imran Yakub Giteli alias Giteli Imran from Godhra under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 210 of the IPC and Sections 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act before the NIA Special Court in Vijayawada.A case was initially registered by the Counter Intelligence Police Station, Vijayawada, of the AP Intelligence Department in November 2019 pertaining to a conspiracy hatched by Pakistani ISI agents along with their associates based in India to carry out terrorist acts.
The NIA later took over the investigation and re-registered the case in December 2019 and filed a chargesheet in June 2020 against 14 persons, including three civilians with business interests in Pakistan.“In furtherance of their conspiracy, they were involved in espionage activities by collecting sensitive and classified official information related to vital defence installations in order to threaten the integrity, security and sovereignty of the country,’’ the NIA said.
The NIA said in the further investigation, it was established that Yakub Imran Giteli was in contact with Pakistani agents and used to meet them during his visits to that country. “On the instructions of Pakistani agents, he was transferring money into the accounts of Navy personnel in lieu of passing sensitive and strategic information. He was raising funds for terrorist activities in the garb of cloth business,’’ the NIA said, adding that their investigation revealed an organised wide network of Pakistan based espionage activities in India utilising the services of operatives like Imran Yakub Giteli.
The 2019 Visakhapatnam espionage case related to an international racket involving individuals based in Pakistan, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai.Sources said the NIA investigation revealed that the agents came in contact with a few Navy personnel working in Visakhapatnam and Mumbai through social media platforms and got classified information from them by depositing money in their accounts.
