The Delhi Police on Saturday said that the senior journalist arrested by it under the Official Secrets Act had been passing ‘sensitive’ information to Chinese intelligence.
“Rajeev Sharma has disclosed his involvement in the procurement of secret information and further conveying the same to his Chinese handlers, namely Michael and George, based in Kunming, China, through different digital channels,” Delhi Police’s Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.
Sharma had been recruited by his two handlers in Kunming, China, after they noticed his regular columns in China’s state-backed Global Times between 2010 and 2014, said the police. Sharma has also been accused of making several trips to China since then, the last one in 2019.
The police alleged that Sharma had been ‘tasked’ to provide inputs on the Indian deployment on the Bhutan-Sikkim-China tri-junction, including Doklam, and the pattern of India-Myanmar military co-operation, among other matters.
The Special Cell also revealed that they had arrested a Chinese woman, Qing Shi, and her Nepalese partner Sher Singh on charges of routing funds to Sharma through illegal channels.
While 61-year-old Sharma had been arrested on September 14, it was only on Friday evening that the police confirmed the arrest. Sharma was produced in court on September 15, after which he was ordered into police custody.
His bail hearing will come up before the court on September 22, said the police.