ISLAMABAD – A married Indian couple living in Moenchengladbach weresentenced by a German court on Thursday after admitting to spying on Sikhand Kashmiri communities for the Indian secret service.
The couple, who are identified only by their first name and initialsaccording to German law, admitted to having passed on information tointelligence services in a trial which began last month.
Manmohan S. was handed a suspended prison sentence of 18 months for actingas a foreign intelligence agent, while his wife Kanwal Jit K. was fined 180days’ wages for aiding him.
According to a court statement, S. was recruited by the Indian foreignintelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) at the beginning of2015, and asked to spy on the Kashmiri opposition movement.
An insurgency against Indian rule has been waged since 1989 in occupiedKashmir, claiming tens of thousands of lives.
“The accused reported on the internal affairs of the Sikh temples inCologne and Frankfurt, as well as on protest events in the Sikh community,”the statement said.
Read Top Stories
The 51-year-old was paid 200 euros ($223) a month for the information heprovided, and attended regular meetings with an Indian intelligence officerfrom July 2017.
His 50-year-old wife, to whom the court ascribed financial motives,accompanied him to the meetings.
On top of the suspended sentence, S. was also ordered to pay 1,500 euros toa charitable institution.The couple now have a week to appeal the decision.-APP/AFP
