The CBI filed a charge sheet on Wednesday against freelance journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi and retired Navy Commander Ashish Pathak for the alleged clandestine procurement of sensitive defence-related material and sharing it with foreign intelligence agencies. The CBI listed Raghuvanshi and Pathak as defendants in the alleged breach of the Official Secrets Act and related offences in its charge sheet submitted before a special court in New Delhi, they added. On the website of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs, Raghuvanshi and Pathak were named as India correspondents.
Chargesheet Against Ex-Navy Commander In Spying Case
“It was alleged that the accused (Raghuvanshi) and his associate (Pathak), who is now working with a (private) firm, was in possession of classified secret documents related to Indian defence establishments,” a CBI spokesperson said after the case was filed. The CBI took up the investigation from the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, which had been following Raghuvanshi since September of last year. According to the central investigation agency, Raghuvanshi and his family allegedly received 3 crore from overseas sources. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police had received evidence from intelligence agencies that some Indian journalists were procuring and transmitting information to foreign agencies, which had the potential to “spoil” India’s relations with friendly nations.
According to the information obtained by the Special Cell, a journalist was secretly gathering “sensitive information” on the “future procurement of the armed forces.” According to the FIR, the information gathered purportedly discloses the strategic preparation of the country’s confidential communication and national security, as well as specifics of India’s strategic and diplomatic conversations with friendly nations. According to officials, the CBI took up the case on the orders of the home ministry.
The CBI launched searches on the premises of Raghuvanshi and other suspects on May 16 in 15 sites throughout Delhi-NCR and Jaipur, following painstaking groundwork and monitoring. “The CBI has seized 48 electronic devices belonging to the FIR-named defendants and others, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, hard discs, and pen drives.
He further claimed that many damaging documents linked to Indian defence institutions had been seized. “The data stored in cloud-based accounts, e-mails, and social media accounts belonging to the accused and others have also been recovered by digital forensic experts of the CBI,” the spokesperson added. “The examination of devices recovered so far from the accused’s possession revealed that he was allegedly gathering confidential information related to India’s defence procurement from various sources.” “He was in contact with a number of foreign entities/agents/persons, and he had contracts/agreements in place with a number of foreign entities for the sharing of confidential information.” “It was also alleged that the accused and his family members received a sizable sum from foreign sources,” he had stated.
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