United News Of India
Bhubaneswar, Jan 29: Investigation into the spying by a contractual photographer employed at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur was handed over to the Crime Branch (CB) police Thursday.
Director general of police Sanjeev Marik Thursday ordered the transfer of the case to the CB.
Balasore police had arrested Ishwar Chandra Behera, the photographer spying for Pakistani intelligence agency ISI and passing sensitive information of the ITR to Pakistan, January 23.
CB sources said a three-member team has left for Balasore to take Ishwar into custody and interrogate him. Ishwar was arrested by Balasore police after being put under surveillance for weeks following an intelligence tip-off about his suspicious activities.
He was charged under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 121 A (treason) and several counts of the Official Secrets Act. The Balasore SDJM court had allowed local police to take Ishwar on a seven-day remand for interrogation Wednesday.
IG Asit Panigrahi had earlier said that Ishwar had been in constant touch with his Kolkata based handler and had been passing sensitive information about missile tests to the ISI for money for the last several months.
