CBI Arrests Freelance Journalist And Ex-Navy Officer For Espionage

The Delhi Police filed a FIR against freelance defense journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi nine months ago. On Tuesday night, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him along with his friend, a former Navy Commander from Delhi. They are accused of giving sensitive information about DRDO projects and the future purchases of the Indian military to intelligence agencies in other countries.

On May 9, the CBI filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Raghuvanshi and his friends for violating Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

The CBI chose to go to court after intelligence agencies told them that some Indian journalists were giving strategic or secret information to the intelligence agencies of foreign enemy countries through an international network.

“We have caught Raghuvanshi and his friend Ashish Pathak, who works for a private company at the moment. They had classified secret papers about Indian defense establishments in their hands. A CBI spokesperson said that the devices that were found in their hands showed that Raghuvanshi was allegedly gathering confidential information about India’s defense procurement from different sources and was in touch with several foreign entities, agents, and people.

“Raghuvanshi had signed contracts or deals with a number of foreign organizations to share private information. It was also said that the accused and members of his family had gotten a lot of money from outside the country,” the spokesman said.

On Tuesday, searches were done in the NCR and Jaipur at about 15 places. “The CBI has taken possession of 48 electronic devices, such as computers, tablets, cell phones, hard drives, pen drives, etc. A number of papers that could be used as evidence against Indian defense establishments have also been taken. Experts in digital forensics from the CBI have also found data saved in cloud-based accounts, emails, and social media accounts belonging to the accused or to other people.

In September, the Delhi Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Raghuvanshi. In December, the CBI took over the investigation.

“A few days ago, a reliable source told us that one journalist is illegally gathering sensitive information. This information includes minute details about DRDO defense projects and how they are going, as well as sensitive details about what the Indian military is buying that show how well the country is prepared for war. He was also getting classified information about national security and strategic and diplomatic talks between India and friendly countries, which could hurt bilateral relations between India and those countries, according to the FIR. “He was sharing this classified information with foreign intelligence agencies,” the FIR said.

Raghuvanshi is currently writing for Defense events, an American website that reports on military events. It says that Raghuvanshi is their India correspondent for defense news on their list of editing contacts.