Mumbai News: NIA Files Chargesheet Against Indian, Pakistani National In Indian Navy Espionage Case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against two accused, including a suspected Pakistani national, in Andhra Pradesh, in an espionage case relating to the Indian Navy.

The two arrested accused have been identified as Akash Solanki, 21, a resident of Firozabad district, Uttar Pradesh, and an absconding Pakistani operative Meer Balaj Khan. Along with other Pakistan Intelligence agents, they were involved in the espionage racket in which sensitive information pertaining to the Indian Navy was being leaked as part of an anti-India conspiracy.

Akash Solanki, who was working as an Electrical Artificer Radio Apprentice (EAC) at the Naval Dockyard, Vishakhapatnam, was passing on classified information relating to the Indian Navy Warships and submarines. He was sharing the information with a suspected Pakistani intelligence operative, operating under the assumed identity of ‘Aditi Chouhan’, as well as other unidentified individuals.

Akash Solanki received crypto money

NIA investigations had further revealed that Akash Solanki had been receiving monetary compensation from suspected Pakistani operative Meer Balaj Khan through crypto channels in exchange for the information. Meer Balaj Khan’s credentials obtained from Binance (leading Crypto-currency Exchange) disclosed a Pakistan ID card during investigations.

Both Akash Solanki and Meer Balaj Khan were chargesheeted today under relevant sections of IPC and UA (P) Act in the NIA Special Court, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

The case had been registered initially at PS Counter Intelligence Cell, Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh, and was subsequently re-registered by NIA on June 5, 2023 as case no RC-02/2023/NIA/HYD. Two persons, including Solanki, have so far been arrested in the case, in which further investigations are continuing.