German prosecutors have charged an Indian man with spying on the Sikh community and Kashmir activists in Germany for India’s intelligence service for more than two years, reported Al Jazeera. The federal prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that espionage charges against the suspect, identified only as Balvir S in line with German privacy rules, were filed at a state court in Frankfurt.
German prosecutors have charged an Indian man with spying on the Sikh community and Kashmir activists in Germany for Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for more than two years, Al-Jazeera reported.https://t.co/BxgYk19RjC
— Daily Times (@dailytimespak) May 14, 2020
He is accused of agreeing to pass the information on Sikhs and the ‘Kashmir movement’ and their relatives to an employee of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the foreign intelligence agency of India, on or before January 2015.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was in regular telephonic and personal contact with the Germany-based intelligence officer and passed on information ‘in numerous cases’ until December 2017. “He allegedly provided information about figures in the Sikh opposition scene and the Kashmiri movement and their relatives in Germany, and passed this on to his handlers who were working at the Indian consulate general in Frankfurt,” the higher regional court in the city said in a statement earlier this week.
The trial will open on August 25.
The same Frankfurt court convicted an Indian couple for spying on the same communities last December. The husband was handed a suspended prison sentence of 18 months for acting as a foreign intelligence agent and his wife was fined 180 days’ wages for aiding him.
Read More: Kulbhashan Jadhav: Case of “Indian State Intervention”
Notably, Global News recently reported that the Indian intelligence agencies attempted to use money and disinformation to ‘covertly influence’ Canadian politicians.
A highly sensitive document obtained by Global News shows that Canadian security officials suspected India’s two main intelligence branches had asked an Indian citizen to sway politicians in this country into supporting Indian government interests.
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) were allegedly behind the operation said the report published by the news arm of Canadian broadcaster Global Television Network.
RAW tasked Canada-based Indian journalist with convincing authorities that funding is being sent to Pakistan to execute terror activities, the report says.
Indian agencies working in western countries?
The EU DisinfoLab, a European NGO tackling disinformation, has recently published its findings on a vast network of fake local news sites in over 65 countries serving Indian interests by repeatedly criticizing Pakistan. A summary of the report has some eye-opening facts for Pakistan.
The websites which are more than 265 in number, are designed to influence the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) with the objective of damaging Pakistan, according to the report.
In early October, the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) East StratCom Task Force — or the EU Disinformation Task Force — had revealed that eptoday.com, which covers European Parliament (EP) in Brussels, was plagiarizing news from Russia Today and Voice of America since a long time.
Most of the plagiarized content included articles and op-eds related to minorities in Pakistan and India-related matters. Surprisingly, it was discovered that the monthly publication was owned by Indians, with links to numerous think tanks, NGOs, and entities from the Srivastava Group.
Read More: Indian Diplomat Gaurav Ahluwalia meets RAW Spy Kulbhushan Jadhav
The group’s Internet Protocol (IP) address was home to an obscure online media outlet, New Delhi Times, as well as the International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies (IINS), both of which were tracked to the same location in the Indian city of New Delhi.
It is also worth noting that four years ago, Pakistan arrested Kulbhushan Yadav, who is a serving naval office of India, for destabilizing Pakistan through sponsoring Baloch insurgents. In a video, Commander Kulbhushan Yadav, while admitting his role in terror-related activities in Pakistan has said; “My purpose was to hold meetings with the Baloch insurgents and carry out activities with their collaboration. These activities have been of criminal nature, leading to the killing of or maiming of Pakistani citizens.”
He explicitly narrated that Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is involved in a separatist movement in Pakistan. “I realize during this process that RAW is involved in some activities related to the Baloch liberation movement within Pakistan and the region around it”, he clarified.
Read More: Indian magazine Frontline acknowledges Jadhav as spy on RAW payroll
The international community may take notice of the increased Indian involvement in other state’s domestic affairs which is a clear case of breach of sovereignty. Analysts believe that Pakistan must be careful of Indian propaganda in the western states.