NIA Court Jails Two in Pakistan-Linked Visakhapatnam Navy Espionage Case

Overview

• Kalavalapalli Konda Babu and Aviansh Somal were sentenced to five years and 10 months of simple imprisonment under UAPA Section 18 and Official Secrets Act Section 3, plus Rs 5,000 fines with a one-year default term.
• The new verdicts bring total convictions to six in a case that has involved 15 arrests since the NIA assumed the probe in December 2019.
• Investigators said the two first connected with Pakistan intelligence agents on Facebook and later shared sensitive defence information over WhatsApp.
• The NIA stated the men received money via intermediaries Abdul Rehman, Haroon Lakdawala, Shaista Qaiser and Imran Giteli, who were convicted earlier this year.
• Babu and Somal were arrested in December 2019 from Mumbai and Karwar, and the agency noted that trials and further investigation against remaining accused are ongoing.