Chinese, Nepali nationals held for tasking journalist to spy on classified documents: Police

The journalist was found to be in possession of "some defence-related classified documents" and the investigation in the case is in progress

A Chinese national and a Nepal citizen have been arrested here in connection with a spy ring allegedly involving a journalist who passed on classified documents to them, police said on Saturday.

Freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma was arrested on September 14 by the Special Cell and followed by the arrests of the Chinese national, a woman, and a Nepal citizen.

Read: Pegasus can spy on multiple phones simultaneously

Sources said the Chinese and Nepali nationals allegedly paid large amounts of money through shell companies to the journalist. A number of mobile phones, laptops and other sensitive material were recovered from them.

Sharma, who was earlier "snooped" using the controversial Israeli spyware 'Pegasus', was arrested under the Official Secrets Act. He had earlier worked with United News of India, The Tribune, Free Press Journal, Saakaal among others.

Also Read: Delhi Police arrests freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma under Official Secrets Act

Sharma, a resident of Pitampura New Delhi and has been covering defence and foreign affairs for around two decades, was found to be in possession of "some defence-related classified documents" and the investigation in the case is in progress, a Delhi Police spokesperson said on Friday night.

He was among 121 activists, academicians and journalists who were alerted by Canada-based internet research agency Citizens Lab that their phones were compromised through their WhatsApp using 'Pegasus', which was developed by Israeli cyber intelligence firm NSO.

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The Citizens Lab had informed Sharma that his phone was under surveillance for about two weeks in May last year.

Facebook was accused of using its messaging platform to dispatch 'Pegasus', which is a hacking tool.

While NSO had claimed that it sold the software only to official agencies, the Narendra Modi government had said that it had nothing to do with the spyware attack.