NEW DELHI: The NIA has charge sheeted Mumbai resident Amaan Salim Shaikh, a key accused in a conspiracy by Pakistani intelligence operatives to honey trap Indian Navy personnel to gather secret information on defence establishments, an official statement said on Friday.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Shaikh on November 20 last year from Mumbai.

The anti-terror agency has filed a supplementary charge sheet on Thursday in a NIA special court in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, against Shaikh under different sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, it said.

Shaikh was found to be involved in activating SIM cards that were used by Pakistani intelligence officers involved in the racket, which came to light when the counter intelligence cell, Vijayawada, registered a case in the matter on January 12, 2021, according to the NIA.

NIA, which took over the case on June 5 last year, found during investigation that Shaikh was working for a suspected Pakistani agent, Usman, to further the anti-India conspiracy.

He was also receiving money from other suspected Pakistani operatives, including Meer Balaj Khan, Alven and other individuals, through crypto channels for completing tasks assigned by the Pakistani intelligence operatives, the statement said.

Khan and Alven, both Pakistani nationals, are absconding.

On November 6 last year, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet against two other accused — Manmohan Surendra Panda and Alven. Panda had been arrested earlier in the case related to the leak of classified defence information to the operatives of Pakistan spy agency ISI.

(With Agency Inputs)