Indian journalist held for spying for China is innocent, his lawyer saidSunday, claiming that evidence against him was manufactured after thearrest.
Advocate Adish Aggarwal, the lawyer for Rajeev Sharma, said the latter wastaken away from his home on Sept. 14 but the police disclosed his arrestfour days later.
Initially, no documents were recovered from him, and evidence was plantedby Delhi Police later, the lawyer alleged.
The senior journalist based in the capital New Delhi was arrested forpassing “sensitive information to Chinese intelligence.”
He was allegedly found in possession of defence-related classifieddocuments, and has been booked under India’s Official Secrets Act.
“It is not a crime for any person to work for China. Rajeev Sharma wasworking for the Chinese newspaper Global Times. It cannot be assumed he wassending any secret documents to China in any way,” Aggarwal told AnadoluAgency.
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“Rajeev Sharma’s wife has informed that no documents of any kind were foundwhen the cops took him away. But later the police claimed they recoveredsome defence-related documents from his house so that a false case could befiled.”
He argued that police have made a mistake, thinking he is involved inillegal activities.
A bail application has also been filed, which is set for a hearing on Sept.22.
Meanwhile, the Press Club of India has criticized the arrest, terming it”high-handed” and “mind-boggling.”
