Two more accused were on Monday sentenced to imprisonment by a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Pakistan-linked Visakhapatnam espionage case. 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 are Somnath Sanjay Ikade from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and Sonu Kumar from Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. According to an official NIA report, they were arrested in December 2019 from Karwar in Karnataka and Visakhapatnam. Each of the accused was sentenced to simple imprisonment (SI) for a term of 5 years, 11 months and 15 days under Section 18 of the UA(P) Act and Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act. The special court in Visakhapatnam also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on each duo, who will have to undergo an additional year of SI in case of default in payment of the fine. The case, which the NIA took over from the AP Police Counter Intelligence Police Station in December 2019, relates to spying on vital installations and facilities of the Indian Navy by foreign spies/agents. In June 2020, the NIA indicted 14 accused persons, followed by a supplementary indictment against one more accused person in March 2021. The investigations are underway as part of the NIA’s efforts to uncover the full conspiracy behind the espionage to undermine India’s unity, integrity, security and sovereignty, the report said.
Published – 15 Dec 2025 21:05 IST
