News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp

Available on  gplay

This article was first published 12 years ago
Rediff.com  » News » Mumbai: 'ISI' man gets 5 years RI under Official Secrets Act

Mumbai: 'ISI' man gets 5 years RI under Official Secrets Act

Source: PTI
July 26, 2011 20:16 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
In the first conviction under the Official Secrets Act in Maharashtra, a sessions court on Tuesday sentenced a city resident to five years' rigorous imprisonment on charges of possessing sensitive documents purportedly to hand over to Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence.

Mohammed Afghani, a zari worker from suburban Govandi, was found guilty under section 3(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act which deals with possession of documents relating to the army, navy and airport, public prosecutor Kalpana Chavan said.

Afghani was arrested on October 11, 2007, after the police found in his possession promotion policy of Indian Air Force, a 2001 directory of Indian Navy and a compact disc containing 42 photographs of different Indian warships. The photographs were clicked from different angles at places which were notified as 'prohibited' under the Official Secrets Act, prosecutor Chavan told Judge Malpani Pawar.

During interrogation, the police also recovered from the accused few debit and credit cards of Citibank, Bangkok Bank, Alafal Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. It was also discovered that the accused did not have accounts in Bangkok Bank and Alafal Bank and that the cards of these banks were not his own.

The accused had confessed to the police that he was instructed by an ISI officer by name of Sayyed to do a recee of Indian warships.

Although the accused had visited Pakistan, he had told Azad, his friend, that he was going to the neighbouring country to meet his relatives. However, he could not explain who his relatives were, the police told the court.

After the court pronounced the judgement, Afghani told PTI outside the court that he should have been acquitted as there was no evidence against him. His lawyer R B Mokashi said he would file an appeal against Afghani's conviction.

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
 
CHINESE CHALLENGE - 2022

CHINESE CHALLENGE