KEY ACCUSED SENTENCED TO RI BY NIA LUCKNOW COURT IN INDIAN ARMY MAN’S PAK SPYING CASE
New Delhi, 26th September: The NIA Special Court, Lucknow, UP, has sentenced a key accused to rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a Pakistan-led espionage case involving an Indian Army personnel.
Anas Yakub Giteli of Godhra town, Dist Panchmahal, Gujarat has been sentenced to multiple sentences ranging from 3 to 5 years RI, along with fine, under various sections of IPC, UA(P) Act and Official Secrets Act. All sentences will run concurrently.
Anas Yakub Giteli was arrested with Indian Army signalman Saurabh Sharma in January 2021 in the case originally registered by ATS, UP. NIA took over & re-registered the case as RC-01/2021/NIA/LKW in February 2021. The duo were chargesheeted by NIA in July 2021. Saurabh was sentenced by the NIA court last month.
As per investigations, Saurabh Sharma was lured by a pseudonymous entity operated by Defence/ISI agents of Pakistan and had shared secret information about the Indian Army with the entity called ‘Neha Sharma’. The said entity had hatched a criminal conspiracy to obtain restricted and confidential information from Indian Army officials.
Saurabh had received funds from multiple sources, including Pakistani sources, and also from Anas Yakub Giteli, in lieu of sensitive/confidential information passed to Pakistani ISI operatives. The restricted information included the order of battle, troop deployments, locations, strength and composition of ambush parties, and other sensitive information.
Anas Yakub Giteli, at the behest of Pakistan-based ISI handlers, had deposited funds in the account of Pooja Singh, wife of Saurabh Sharma, and had sent the photo of the deposit slip to his handlers as a confirmation of the funds transfer.
The two accused used to frequently delete the incriminating logs/digital footprints, viz WhatsApp communication, including the incriminating WhatsApp chats and images, to hide their wrongdoings, NIA investigations had revealed.
