Odisha photographer gets lifer for 'spying' for ISI

The Balasore ADJ court convicted and awarded the life sentence to Ishwar Behera, a former photographer with DRDO, Chandipur. Behera was arrested in 2014 on the charge of spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

Balasore (Odisha): Ishwar Behera, a former contractual photographer in DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) at Chandipur, was on Thursday sentenced to life for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

The Balasore ADJ court today convicted Behera and sentenced him to life.

Behera, who was working as a contract photographer in a defence department establishment in Chandipur, had been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Odisha Police in 2014 on the charge of selling sensitive and classified documents and providing secret information to Pakistan's Intelligence agency ISI.

Behera who hails from Kantipur area of the neighbouring Mayurbhanj district, was working as a contract photographer in DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) at Chandipur near here. While working there, he was engaged in conversation with a person from Meerut.

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As per his mobile call tracking, he was providing secret and classified material of the country to the ISI. On the basis of that charge and as per the direction of the Crime Branch of Police, the local police in Chandipur had arrested him on December 22, 2014. He was charged under different sections of IPC like criminal conspiracy, sedition and making public classified documents, etc.

Behera had been remanded to judicial custody in 2014 and his bail application had been rejected several times in the meantime.

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