An Indian couple in the early 50s faces 10 years in jail for spying on local Sikh and Kashmiri groups at the behest of the Indian secret service Research and Analysis Wing, also known as R&AW or RAW. 50-year-old Manmohan S and his 51-year-old wife Kanwal Jit K went on trial in the German city of Frankfurt on Thursday (today). If convicted of their crimes, both will spend 10 years in jail as the intrusion of privacy is deemed to be a serious crime in Germany.
Thursday’s hearing was held at a court in Frankfurt with further hearing likely to continue till 12 December.
“Manmohan S. agreed… to provide information about Germany’s Sikh community and Kashmir movement and their relatives to an employee of the Indian foreign intelligence service Research & Analysis Wing,” news agency AFP quoted a statement from the prosecutors.
Both the husband-wife duo regularly joined the monthly meetings with the Indian intelligence officer between July and December 2017, and in total the couple were paid 7,200 euros ($8,100).
The Indian government has not reacted yet, but the development will come as a huge embarrassment for India if the two accused are convicted by the German court.