New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Canada-based consultant for his alleged involvement in a defence espionage case, in which a journalist and a former Navy commander were arrested in May, ThePrint has learnt.
According to CBI sources, Rahul Gangal, a senior partner at Roland Berger, an international management consultancy headquartered in Munich, was arrested Monday for accessing and transferring “sensitive and classified documents related to India’s security” to journalist Vivek Raghuvanshi, who had been arrested in connection with the case on 16 May.
Gangal was produced in a local court Tuesday and was remanded in CBI’s custody for four days, the sources said.
The development comes three months after the agency arrested Raghuvanshi, a journalist working for a US-based news website and newspaper called Defense News, and Ashish Pathak, a former naval commander, for allegedly leaking sensitive information on India’s defence projects and procurement to international companies and intelligence agencies.
The journalist had been accused of collecting sensitive information related to India’s defence projects, future procurement by the armed forces and sharing this information with foreign nations.
According to CBI sources, Gangal had taken up permanent residence in Canada in 2019 and had sent these documents to Raghuvanshi before moving there. The agency had been tracking his movements since his arrival in India last week and located his place of stay in Delhi, they said.
“Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused which led to recovery of incriminating documents and digital devices,” a CBI source said, adding that scrutiny of these documents and devices revealed that “he possessed and shared the incriminating secret document with Raghuvanshi”.
“He was arrested after we found evidence of his involvement in the case. He sent several classified documents of national security. He will now be questioned on the same,” the CBI source said.
Gangal’s is the third arrest in the espionage case that the CBI had registered on 9 December last year. In its First Information Report (FIR), the central investigation agency had invoked Section 3 (penalties for spying) of the Official Secrets Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
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CBI’s allegations
According to the CBI, the suspects had shared crucial information with regard to defence projects that could reveal India’s strategic preparedness.
Investigators claim that this information — which includes classified communications relating to the country’s national security and details of its strategic and diplomatic talks with friendly nations — was being shared with intelligence agencies of foreign countries.
Raghuvanshi, according to CBI sources, was arrested as part of the agency’s probe into an “international network” of Indian journalists supplying strategic and confidential information to foreign defence companies in connection with procurement and sales of defence equipment.
The CBI claims that the journalist, who had been on its radar for over seven months before his arrest, was “being paid” by European defence companies for passing on information related to requests for proposals and requirements by India, plans for procurements, communication with various firms and even certain specifications.
Meanwhile, Pathak has been accused of leaking sensitive information on India’s defence projects and procurement to the intelligence agencies of multiple foreign countries.
Who is Rahul Gangal?
According to Roland Berger’s website, Rahul Gangal advises clients “from a range of industries, including Aerospace, Defense, Engineering Products, Automotive, Homeland Security and Infrastructure”.
Gangal’s consulting practice focuses on “business growth and strategy, operations, market entry, offsets and turnaround strategy”, his profile on the website reads.
“He specialises in counter-trade measures such as offsets. He also advises the Public Sector on policy formulation and implementation,” the profile says.
According to the website, before joining Roland Berger, Gangal worked for the Tata Group as well as leading investment banking and private equity businesses in the aerospace, defense and security sectors and has substantial experience working with governments on matters of “policy especially in the domain of Aerospace and Defense”.
According to his profile on LinkedIn, Gangal is a graduate in economics from Delhi University and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. He also studied at the Harvard Business School.
“What drives me is helping solve complex challenges that require deep and large scale transformation. I love working at intersections and inflexion points of various industries creating discontinuous growth opportunities,” his profile on LinkedIn says.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)