NIA chargesheets 13 persons in Ghaziabad espionage case

The NIA has filed a chargesheet against 13 persons, namely Praveen, Raj Valmiki, Shiva Valmiki, Ritik Gangwar, Sameer @ Shooter, Durgesh Nishad, Naushad, Gagan Kumar, Vivek, Shivraj, Meera Thakur and Shane Iram @ Mahak in Ghaziabad Espionage Case, before the Special Court NIA, Lucknow, under sections 61(2) and 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act, and sections 13, 17 and 18 of the UA (P) Act. A Detailed Investigation Report (DIR) against 5 Juveniles in conflict with law has already been submitted before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Ghaziabad on 18th May 2026.
The case was initially registered on March 14,2026, at Kaushambi Police Station, Commissionerate Ghaziabad, under sections 61(2) and 152 of the BNS and sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act. During the investigation, police added section 18 of the UA (P) Act. So far, 21 accused persons have been arrested in the case.
Investigation has established that the accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy to commit illegal acts and serious offences prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. It has been established that the accused illegally trespassed into, approached and accessed prohibited/sensitive areas of vital importance, installed spy cameras, and transmitted sensitive information, including photographs and videos with geo-tagging, to entities based in an enemy country. They also facilitated such enemy-state-linked entities in procuring and using Indian SIM cards for unlawful activities, and actively assisted them in obtaining photographs and videos of sensitive installations along with their precise GPS coordinates, which has the potential to endanger the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the nation. Further investigation in the case against the remaining accused persons and other suspects is in progress.

(Freelance Journalist)