 | « Back to article | Print this article |
A sessions court on Monday convicted a man, arrested and booked under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment. The police had arrested South Mumbai resident Javed Mozawala on December 8, 2011 on the suspicion of spying for the Pakistani intelligence agency after they seized vital documents of national importance and a few certificates in civil aviation from his residence in Byculla.
The police also recovered a manual of communication and tactics meant for Islamic terror organisations and groups, some telephone numbers and photographs of vital defence installations, besides many passports of Indian nationals who wanted to visit Pakistan.
According to the prosecution, Mozawala used to procure visas for people who wished to visit Pakistan and was working under direction of two senior officials attached to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty told the court that Mozawala was found with several objectionable materials which were part of the official secret communications.
Shetty argued that besides other materials, an ISI book on conducting secret activities was found from the accused. Photographs recovered from Mozawala were of some defence facilities, Tata power house, Bandra-Worli Sealink among others, according to prosecution which examined 24 witnesses, including experts who confirmed that photographs and literature recovered from Mozawala were part of the confidential internal communications.
Meanwhile, Mozawala fainted when the court was about to pronounce the judgement. Later, his mother told the court that her son was being falsely implicated. "He has two daughters and there is nobody to take care of them," she told the court.