NIA staff arrives to analyze DRDO espionage case
2 min readBy Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: A Day after the arrest of 4 contractual workers and a everlasting staffer of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), a staff of National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrived at Balasore to analyze the hyperlinks of the accused individuals with the Pakistani brokers.
The two-member staff of NIA, the counter terrorist job power of the nation, is learnt to have been briefed by Balasore police concerning the incident that led to the arrest of the 5 individuals. The staff comprising IT and forensic consultants are anticipated to go to the delicate areas within the ITR and interrogate the accused after taking them on remand.
Police on Thursday arrested a driver Sachin Kumar Chatta in reference to the alleged espionage within the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Odisha coast. A local of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Chatta was a everlasting staffer who labored as the driving force of a prime defence scientist for the final seven years and was dwelling contained in the ITR Colony the place quite a few scientists and technical officers reside.
He was produced within the SDJM courtroom at Balasore and remanded in judicial custody after his bail utility was rejected. On Tuesday, 4 contractual workers – Basanta Behera (52) of Jhampura, Hemanta Kumar Mistri (52) of Buanla, Tapas Ranjan Nayak (41) of Palasia and Sk Musafir (32) of Srikona have been arrested.
The 5 have been booked for his or her anti-national act and legal conspiracy and underneath numerous sections of the Official Secrets Act. While preliminary investigations revealed they have been honey-trapped and leaked defence secrets and techniques with international brokers, purportedly Pakistani brokers in alternate of cash, the NIA is anticipated to unravel their hyperlinks.
A contractual photographer of ITR Iswar Chandra Behera, who was arrested on the fees of espionage six years in the past and awarded life sentence in February this yr, had allegedly acquired cash from Meerut in alternate of data and images from the check vary.
“The NIA will investigate if there is any link between the two cases and whether the agents are the same persons. Since in both the cases the accused persons had shared information about the missile tests, the NIA may go deeper to ascertain who else are involved and what more might have been shared,” stated an official.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch of Police has taken over the cost of investigation from the native police. A particular investigating staff headed by Additional SP of Crime Branch Prasanta Bisoi met Balasore police and began preparation to method the courtroom for remand of the accused individuals.
