A Jammu court has denied bail to Chhoton Sah, a resident of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, who is accused of espionage for allegedly attempting to pass sensitive defence information. Principal Sessions Judge R N Watal stated that granting bail would be ‘outrageous’ and would undermine the faith of the common man in the criminal justice system.
Sah was arrested on charges of espionage for allegedly trying to pay a local youth, Karan Kumar, to pass sensitive information. According to investigators, Sah claimed he was ‘honey-trapped’ by a woman named Hardeep Kaur. The 23-year-old youth, Karan Kumar, allegedly told police that he came into contact with a ‘female ISI operative’ through social media, who gained his trust and introduced him to other Pakistan Intelligence Officers (PIOs).
Kumar allegedly installed a GPS-enabled camera application on his mobile phone to share videos and photographs of strategically important locations. Sah had transferred Rs 2,000 to Karan Kumar’s bank account, which he later claimed was ‘part payment’ for the photographs and videos.
After his arrest, Sah revealed that he had transferred the money to Karan Kumar’s bank account on the instructions of one Mithun Mondal, who he claimed resided in Saudi Arabia. The court rejected Sah’s bail application, stating that the allegations against him were ‘heinous and serious in nature’.
The court also noted that the investigation is at a preliminary stage, and the co-accused involved are yet to be arrested. Granting bail at this stage would impede the investigation and result in prejudice to the prosecution, the court said.
