NEW DELHI, May 17: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a former Navy commander and a freelance journalist in a case of alleged espionage. Searches were carried out at the journalist’s premises on Tuesday after an FIR was registered against him, official sources said on Wednesday.
According to the central probe agency, former Navy commander Ashish Pathak and journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi are accused of allegedly collecting sensitive information related to defence matters illegally and passing them on to foreign intelligence agencies.
Raghuvanshi is listed as India correspondent of a US-based portal on defence and strategic affairs on its website. CBI searched 12 places in Jaipur and National Capital Region (NCR) linked to him and also spoke to people close to him.
Raghuvanshi and Pathak have been booked under Section 3 (spying) of the Official Secrets Act and with Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Several sensitive documents were recovered during the searches. They have been forwarded for further legal investigation, the sources said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
