An Indian man was charged by German prosecutors for spying on the Sikh community and Kashmir activists in Germany for India’s intelligence service for more than two years.
The federal prosecutor’s office said that espionage charges against the suspect, identified only as Balvir S in line with German privacy rules, were filed at a state court in Frankfurt.
According to prosecutors, the suspect was in regular telephone and personal contact with the Germany-based intelligence officer and passed on information “in numerous cases” until December 2017. They did not specify whether he is in custody.
“He allegedly provided information about figures in the Sikh opposition scene and the Kashmiri movement and their relatives in Germany, and passed this on to his handlers who were working at the Indian consulate general in Frankfurt,” the higher regional court in the city said in a statement earlier this week. The trial will open on August 25.
India and Pakistan have disputed Kashmir since they became independent and split in 1947, with the nuclear rivals fighting two out of three wars over the region.
