Pak man, two others get 10 years of jail for spying

A Pakistani national and his two Indian associates have been sentenced to ten years rigorous imprisonment by a local court in Bhopal on charge of spying for the neighbouring country.

The court also imposed a collective fine of Rs 20,000 on the trio.

The Pakistani spy, identified as Imran Qureshi from Karachi, had rented a house in Mangalwara area and was sending secret information through the Internet and other means to Pakistan. Based on a tip-off, the local police arrested him in January 2008, the prosecution said.

Though Imran tried to mislead the police initially, they carried out a search at his house and found a lot of objectionable documents from his possession. He was later taken into custody.

The police later interrogated him, following which he revealed the names of Sagar-based Iqbal Qureshi and Akthar Baig. Iqbal and Akthar too were arrested by the police and produced in the court for trial.

Imran was a resident of Kulsum Height, Gulshan Iqbal area of Karachi (Pakistan), the prosecution said.  

The sentence was awarded by Additional Session Judge, P K Dwivedi under Passport Act's section three, sections 467, 468 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and Section three of the Official Secrets Act.