New Delhi, 28th August (KNS): A former Indian Army personnel from Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district has been convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) by the NIA Special Court, Lucknow (UP), in a Pakistan-operated espionage case.
 
Saurabh Sharma has been sentenced to varying sentences, with a maximum jail term of 5 years, along with fine under different sections of IPC, UA (P) Act and the Official Secrets Act. All sentences will run concurrently.
 
Sharma was arrested, along with another accused Anas Yakub Giteli, a resident of Gujarat, on 8th January 2021. NIA had taken over from ATS, UP, and re-registered the case as RC-01/2021/NIA/LKW on 5th February 2021. The anti-terror agency had subsequently chargesheeted the two accused under relevant sections.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
 
As per investigations, Saurabh Sharma, formerly a signalman in the Indian Army, was lured into the spying racket by a pseudonymous entity operated by Defence/ISI agents of Pakistan. He had shared restricted and confidential secret information about the Indian Army with this pseudo entity, ‘Neha Sharma’.
 
The leaked information included the sensitive information pertaining to Indian military installations. Sharma had received funds from multiple sources, including Pakistani sources and also from the chargesheeted co-accused, Anas Yakub Giteli, in exchange of the secret, sensitive information.(KNS)