New Delhi, January 28, 2026 : A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sentenced a key accused to five years and six months of imprisonment in a Pakistan-led espionage conspiracy involving the fraudulent use of Indian SIM cards and misuse of social media platforms.
The accused, Altafhusen Ghanchibhai alias Shakil, pleaded guilty during the trial, in which the prosecution examined 37 witnesses. Following his conviction, the special NIA court in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, pronounced the sentence on Tuesday, officials said.
The court held Ghanchibhai guilty of misusing unique identification mechanisms such as SIM cards, one-time passwords (OTPs) and social media applications to aid cross-border espionage activities. He was sentenced to simple imprisonment for five years and six months with a fine of ₹5,000 under Section 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Additionally, he was awarded simple imprisonment for two years and six months with a fine of ₹5,000 under Section 66C of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Both sentences will run concurrently, amounting to a maximum jail term of 5.5 years.
According to the NIA, the case revolved around a cross-border conspiracy in which Indian SIM cards belonging to fishermen arrested by the Pakistan Navy while fishing in the high seas were misused. The mobile phones and SIM cards seized from these fishermen were later activated in India by the accused to facilitate espionage operations.
Investigations revealed that Ghanchibhai inserted the Indian SIM cards into his handset and generated OTPs, which were then shared with Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). This enabled the operation of Indian WhatsApp numbers from Pakistan. These compromised numbers were subsequently used by PIOs to contact Indian defence personnel using fake identities, with the objective of extracting sensitive and restricted defence-related information.
The NIA said the actions of the accused posed a serious threat to the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of India, underlining the grave national security implications of the conspiracy.
