Espionage case: NIA Court awards convict with 5-year imprisonment

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Chennai on Tuesday convicted Mohamed Saleem in an espionage case, awarding him five years of imprisonment.

Apart from conviction, Saleem has also been slapped with a fine of Rs. 2,000.

The court held him guilty of charges of criminal conspiracy, possession of high quality counterfeit Indian currency notes, and preparation to commit terrorist acts.

Saleem has been convicted under sections 489C and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) besides sections 16 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

"The case pertains to the criminal conspiracy hatched by Saleem and others along with the then officials of the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka during early 2014 with the intention of causing explosion at the US Consulate and other places of public congregation in Chennai besides other installations in South India," a press note from the NIA read.

The NIA further said that the accused had also procured high quality counterfeit Indian currency notes for meeting the expenses towards such terrorist activities.

"Sri Lankan national Mohamed Sakir Hussain, who had arrived in Chennai on April 28, 2014 to carry out terrorist acts, as per the instructions from his handlers in the Pakistan High Commission, Colombo was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police. Later, accused Saleem and Sivabalan were arrested on May 1, 2014 after fake currency worth Rs. two lakh and 50 thousand were seized from their possession," the presser added.

Subsequently, the case was later transferred to the NIA in June, 2014. After a complete investigation, the NIA had filed a charge sheet against three accused namely Sakir Hussain, Sivabalan and Mohamed Saleem in October, 2014 under sections 16 and 18 of UA(P) Act.

In the case, NIA has also filed supplementary charge sheet against the then Pakistan High Commission Colombo official Amir Zubair Siddiqui, who continues to be an absconder.