New Delhi: A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Visakhapatnam has sentenced a man to five-and-a-half years of simple imprisonment in a Pakistan-led espionage conspiracy involving misuse of Indian mobile SIM cards and social media platforms, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused, Altafhusen Ghanchibhai alias Shakil, pleaded guilty during the trial, in which the prosecution had already examined 37 witnesses.
The court convicted him of misusing unique identification features, including SIM cards and one-time passwords (OTPs), as well as social media platforms.
He was sentenced to simple imprisonment for five years and six months along with a fine of ₹5,000 under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and to simple imprisonment of two-and-a-half years with a fine of ₹5,000 under Section 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The sentences will run concurrently, officials said.
According to the NIA, the case (RC-03/2021/NIA/HYD) relates to a cross-border conspiracy involving Indian SIM cards belonging to fishermen who were arrested by the Pakistan Navy while fishing in the high seas.
Their mobile phones and SIM cards were seized by Pakistani authorities and later activated in India by the accused to facilitate espionage activities.
Investigations revealed that the accused inserted the Indian SIM cards into his mobile handset and generated OTPs, which were shared with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), enabling them to operate Indian WhatsApp numbers from Pakistan, the agency said.
The compromised numbers were subsequently used by the PIOs to contact Indian defence personnel using fake identities with the intention of extracting sensitive and restricted defence-related information, posing a threat to the security and sovereignty of the country, it added.
The NIA said it continues its efforts to counter cyber-enabled and cross-border terrorist and espionage activities and bring those involved to justice. (KNS).
