Two more accused were sentenced to imprisonment by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in the Pakistan-linked Visakhapatnam Navy spying case, on Monday. So far, a total of 10 accused have been convicted by the court. The trial continues against the remaining five accused arrested by the NIA.
The two accused convicted are Somnath Sanjay Ikade of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, and Sonu Kumar of Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. They were arrested in December 2019 from Karwar in Karnataka and Visakhapatnam respectively, according to the official NIA release.
Each of the accused has been sentenced to Simple Imprisonment (SI) of 5 years, 11 months and 15 days under Section 18 of UA(P) Act and section 3 of the Official Secrets Act. The Special Court at Visakhapatnam has also imposed a fine of â‚ą5,000 each on the duo, who will have to undergo one year additional SI in case of default in payment of the fine.
The case, which NIA took over from the Counter Intelligence Police Station of the AP police in December 2019, relates to spying at vital installations and Indian Navy establishments by foreign spies/agents. In June 2020, the NIA had chargesheeted 14 accused persons, followed by a supplementary chargesheet against one more accused person in March 2021.
Investigations are ongoing as part of NIA’s efforts to expose the full conspiracy behind the espionage that was intended to disrupt India’s unity, integrity, security and sovereignty, the release said.
Published – December 15, 2025 09:05 pm IST
