‘Suspected woman handler in DRDO espionage case proposed marriage to 2 accused’: CID

The woman had 7 Facebook accounts under different names and was in contact with the five accused through social media.

Updated on: Sep 25, 2021, 21:34:20 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The suspected woman handler in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO0 espionage case had promised to visit the homes of one of the five accused arrested in the case, top CID officials claimed on Saturday.

Last week, five people — Basanta Behera, Hemanta Kumar Mistry, Tapas Ranjan Nayak, Sk Musafir and Sachin Kumar— were arrested by police in Balasore district for their alleged links with a woman handler from Pakistan. They were reportedly honey-trapped for information on activities at the missile testing facility at ITR Chandipur.

Additional Director General of Police, CID, Sanjeeb Panda said the suspected female operative had proposed marriage to two of the arrested accused and promised to visit the house of another accused located in Chandipur.

The woman had 7 Facebook accounts under different names and was in contact with the five accused through social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook on regular basis.

“She used to video call two of the accused frequently. Claiming that she is a resident of Balasore district, the woman had invited one of the accused persons to meet her at her residence in Chandipur,” Panda said after CID officials completed the interrogation of the accused.

Panda said the investigation is underway to get details of the UK phone number and the bank account in Dubai from where one of the accused received a cash transfer of around ₹38,000. He said efforts are underway to know if the accused received more money from any other source and the actual identity and whereabouts of the woman.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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