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NEW DELHI: Police in the Indian capital said on Saturday (September 19) that they had arrested a local independent journalist on allegations that he was passing “sensitive information” to Chinese intelligence officials.
In a statement, the Delhi police said that 61-year-old Rajeev Sharma was arrested earlier this week and officers had seized some confidential documents related to the Indian defense department at the journalist’s residence.
A Chinese woman and her Nepalese partner were also arrested for allegedly providing Sharma with “huge amounts of money” for “transmitting information to Chinese intelligence.”
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours.
Reuters was unable to immediately reach any of the three people arrested or their lawyers.
“In interrogation, Rajeev Sharma has revealed his involvement in obtaining secret / sensitive information and passing it on to his Chinese handlers,” Delhi Deputy Police Commissioner Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said in the statement.
The arrest comes amid intense tensions between India and China on their border in the Himalayan region. Relations between neighbors have worsened since a clash in June that India says 20 of its soldiers were killed.
China suffered “far less” than the 20 deaths suffered by the Indian army in the clash, according to a tweet this week from the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese government. Communist party.
Police said Sharma was tasked with providing information on India-China border issues and other matters in recent years.
He added that between January 2019 and September 2020, Sharma received more than 3 million Indian rupees (US $ 40,799.67) from one of his handlers.
India has banned several Chinese apps in recent months and made it harder for Chinese companies to make investments.
