Bhubaneswar: The court of SDJM Balasore on Saturday granted 7-day remand of the five persons arrested in connection with the alleged espionage in the Integrated Test Range of DRDO at Chandipur in Balasore.
Odisha Crime Branch ADG Sanjeeb Panda informed that the Crime Branch will be bringing them to its headquarters in Cuttack on a 7-day remand. They will be interrogated to ascertain the involvement of others in the case.
The Crime Branch will probe all angles of the case and will take help of central agencies if needed. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) can also interrogate the accused persons during the remand period.
Four contractual employees at the Integrated Test Range had been arrested on September 14 on charges of spying for a foreign intelligence agency. They are, Basanta Behera (52) of Jhampura, Hemant Kumar Mistri (52) of Buanla, Tapas Ranjan Nayak (41) of Palasia and Sk Musafir (32) of Srikona.
The fifth accused identified as Sachin Kumar Chatta was arrested on September 16. Chatta, a native of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, was a permanent staffer and worked as the driver of a top defence scientist for the last several years.
While preliminary investigations have revealed that they have leaked defence secrets to foreign agents, they have been booked for their anti-national act and criminal conspiracy and under various sections of Official Secrets Act.
