The arrest of a freelance journalist, which was reported on Friday night, is developing into a case of alleged espionage involving China.
Rajeev Sharma was arrested from his residence in Delhi on September 14 and remanded to police custody for six days. He was found to be in possession of classified documents related to defence.
News agency ANI reported a Chinese national has also been arrested in the case. “Freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma was arrested for passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. A Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate [were] also arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies,” ANI quoted Delhi Police as saying on Saturday.
The police said a "huge number of mobile phones, laptops and other incriminating/sensitive material have been recovered”.
Rajeev Sharma was booked under the stringent Official Secrets Act. His bail application has been listed in the Patiala House Court for September 22.
Rajeev Sharma had, reportedly, worked for a number of Indian media outlets and had also written articles for Global Times, a Chinese state-owned outlet.
Interestingly, Rajeev Sharma was among the people in India who claimed they were alerted last year that they were being monitored by the Israeli Pegasus spyware.
In August, a Chinese national was arrested in Delhi for allegedly bribing Tibetan monks in the capital in order to get information on the Dalai Lama.