The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court at Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday sentenced to simple imprisonment (SI) a key accused in a Pakistan led espionage conspiracy case involving fraudulent use of mobile SIM cards and misuse of social media platforms. The accused, Altafhusen Ghanchibhai @ Shakil, had pleaded guilty during the ongoing trial, as part of which 37 witnesses had already been examined by the prosecution. Convicting the accused for misusing unique identification features, including SIM cards and OTPs, as well as social media, the special court pronounced today its orders against him. The accused has been sentenced to SI for a period of five years and six months, with fine of ₹5,000 under Section 18 of UA (P) Act and to SI of 2.5 years with fine of ₹5,000 under Section 66C of the IT. Act, 2000. The two sentences will run concurrently to the maximum term of 5.5 years.
The cross-border conspiracy case RC-03/2021/NIA/HYD involved use of Indian SIM cards belonging to fishermen arrested by the Pakistan Navy during fishing on High Seas. The mobile phones and SIM cards of these fishermen were seized by the Pak Navy and later activated by the accused in India to facilitate espionage activities. NIA investigation into the conspiracy had conclusively established that the accused had inserted the Indian SIM cards in his mobile handset and generated One-Time Passwords (OTPs), which he had shared with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs), enabling operation of Indian WhatsApp numbers from Pakistan.
The compromised Indian numbers were subsequently used by the PIOs to contact Indian defense establishment personnel under fake identities, with the intent to elicit sensitive and restricted defense-related information, thereby threatening the unity, integrity, security, and sovereignty of India. The NIA is continuing with its meticulous efforts to counter cyber-enabled and other cross-border terrorist and espionage activities and bring all such offenders to book.