Balasore: Police on Thursday arrested an employee of Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) missile test facility off the Odisha coast in the alleged espionage case busted on Tuesday.
The arrested, identified as Sachin Kumar alias Chheta, worked as a driver at ITR-Chandipur.
With this, the number of people arrested for their alleged links with Pakistani agents has gone up to five.
On Tuesday, police had apprehended four persons— Basanta Behera, Hemanta Kumar Mistry, Tapas Ranjan Nayak, and Sheikh Musaphir—from Jhampurahat and Nuanai under Chandipur police station limits. Three of the accused are contractual workers of ITR while the fourth is a contractual employee of Proof and Experimental Establishment (PEE) of DRDO.
Also Read: Espionage At Chandipur ITR: 4 Contractual Staffers Honey-Trapped By Pak Agents!
Meanwhile, a four-member team of the Crime Branch led by Additional SP Prashant Kumar Bisoyi went to the Chandipur police station this morning to collect information about the four accused, who have been sent to judicial custody.
Also Read: Espionage Case: 4 Accused Sent To 14-Day Judicial Remand In Odisha’s Balasore
The team had arrived in Balasore last night after Odisha DGP asked the Crime Branch to take over the case.
Also Read: Odisha Crime Branch Takes Over Chandipur Espionage Case
This is the second espionage case in six years. A contractual videographer, Ishwar Behera was arrested in 2015 for allegedly passing on sensitive information to ISI. He was found guilty and sentenced to life by a court in February this year.
