Odisha court rejects bail plea of Pakistani ISI agent Asif Ali in espionage case

In a major development, the bail application of Pakistani ISI agent Asif Ali, accused of passing sensitive information from Balasore Integrated Test Range (ITR), to Pakistan, has been rejected by the JMFC City Court on Friday. 

Asif Ali, who was previously in Meerut as an undertrial prisoner, was produced before the court after the case proceedings concluded. Following the rejection of his bail plea, he has now been transferred to BalasoreJail.

According to sources, Asif Ali was linked to Ishwara Behera, who was arrested in 2015 in a sedition case and is serving a life sentence. 

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Both Ishwara Behera and Asif Ali are facing charges of sedition. It is alleged that Asif Ali worked in collusion with Ishwar Behera to carry out anti-national activities. 

Asif Ali allegedly helped his handlers in Pakistan intelligence to know about India's sensitive defence establishment information.

Court of Additional District Judge (ADJ), Balasore had convicted former contractual Lensman of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Ishwara Behera in the espionage case and sentenced him to life imprisonment.