By IANS,
New Delhi : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a fresh case against arms dealer Abhishek Verma. Some unidentified defence ministry officials too have been charged under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) Wednesday.
The agency registered the case in a special court after a formal complaint was received from the defence ministry stating that documents purportedly provided by US-based attorney C Edmond Allen, Verma’s business associate, were classified and violated OSA, sources said.
Allen had purportedly provided documents dealing with acquisitions and future plans of the defence forces to CBI and other investigating agencies.
The investigating agency consulted legal experts in the case as the documents were provided by a third person.
“The documents were not recovered from Verma’s possession,” said the officer.
The cases have been registered under Section 3 of Official Secrets Act (passing on sensitive information) and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy).
The CBI is planning to question senior defence ministry officials and retired defence personnel on their alleged relations with Verma and other arms supplier lobbyists.