On Friday, the 4th of December, Delhi High Court granted bail to journalist Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested after it was revealed that he was spying for China. He was arrested by Delhi Police in espionage case for allegedly passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence.
Delhi High Court grants bail to Freelance Journalist Rajeev Sharma (file pic), arrested under Official Secret Act. He was arrested by Delhi Police in espionage case for allegedly passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. pic.twitter.com/g3hDacAo6O
— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2020
Sharma was arrested by a special cell of Delhi police on September 14 under the Official Secrets Act. His Twitter account has been restricted following his arrest. Sharma has reportedly worked with The Tribune, Free Press Journal, Sakaal, etc. and for left-wing publications like The Quint, DailyO, etc. He also runs a YouTube channel. Sharma is also reported to have written for the Global Times which is the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China for many years.
In September, informing about the arrests, Deputy Commissioner of Police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said, “Special Cell has arrested a freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma for passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. One Chinese lady and her Nepalese associate also arrested for paying him large amounts of money routed through shell companies. Chinese intelligence tasked the journalist for conveying sensitive information in lieu of large amounts of money. A large number of mobile phones, laptops, and other incriminating/sensitive material have been recovered.”
Along with Sharma, the Delhi police also arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate on the charges of paying huge amounts of money to Sharma through shell companies.
The Chinese woman named Qing Shi is an intelligence official of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of the Chinese government. The name of her Nepali Associate is Sher Singh.