DRDO Espionage Case: Odisha police find involvement of another woman

In a major breakthrough in the DRDO espionage case, the crime branch of Odisha police has detected the involvement of another woman. Crime branch ADG Sanjeeb Panda said that the woman had come in contact with one of the accused identifying herself as a native of his area and presently working in Dubai.

Bhubaneswar:Thecrime branch of Odisha police has detected the involvement of another woman in the DRDO espionage case, a senior police officer said.

Briefing media on the case, Crime branch ADG Sanjeeb Panda on Saturday said that the female operative was in touch with one of five ITR arrested employees of the Chandipur ITR and money transaction has also been detected. The woman had come in contact with one of the accused identifying herself as a native of his area and presently working in Dubai, he said.

After establishing contact with the accused, the woman had borrowed Rs 40,000 with a promise to return. Following this, the accused transferred the said amount in two instalments to two different bank accounts in Mumbai on April 18, 2021, the officer said.

Read:DRDO Espionage case: Crime Branch confirms Pakistan link

"On the very next day, the amount was returned to the SBI account of the accused at Chandipur branch. We suspect that the money transaction was made to win the confidence of the accused," he further said.

Earlier, police had found involvement of a female operative, suspected to be from Pakistan, in the case at DRDO's Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Odisha's Balasore district.

The ADG further said a team of the crime branch will soon visit Mumbai for further investigation into the case.

Read: DRDO espionage case: Odisha Police seek Interpol help

On September 14, the Odisha police had arrested five contractual employees of the DRDO unit at Chandipur, on charges of sharing classified defence information with unknown foreign agents, suspected to be from Pakistan.

(with agency inputs)