The Crime Branch wing of Odisha Police, probing the Development Organisation (DRDO) espionage case, has found the suspected woman handler’s Pakistan link in the passing classified defence information.

While the woman operative who operated seven Facebook social media accounts through a United Kingdom-based phone, four accounts were found active in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. The handler also operated another account from Rawalpindi. All these Facebook accounts were operated through proxy Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to escape identification of the location of the operation, a top Crime Branch official claimed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Odisha crime branch has decided to seek the assistance of the Interpol to elicit further clues and antecedents of the woman handler who had befriended the arrested accused persons in the passing classified information to suspected subversive elements from the defence establishment.

The role of an elusive woman operative in the espionage case has been corroboratively established. She was in constant touch with those arrested in the espionage case.

The accused persons who were questioned after being taken under police remand have confessed to have maintained constant touch with the woman through various social media accounts and mobile phone said senior officials of Crime Branch.

The woman operative used a virtual number from the United Kingdom to trap the accused persons. The phone number was rerouted through several IP addresses to conceal its originating location. The photograph of the woman operative has already been acquired. The footage of the handler’ video conference calls with the accused were also obtained. To make further inroads into the case, the Crime Branch will seek Interpol’s help as the international body facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.

We may bring the accused persons for remand for the second occasion for further questioning, they added.

The crime branch police had earlier found money trail from Dubai and role of a woman operative in passing classified information to suspected Pakistani agents from the defence establishment.

Their bank, social media account details and the telephones of the accused persons were subjected to forensic analysis for expediting the probe. The principal focus of the investigation of the sensational espionage is to ascertain what information they have shared with whom and who else are involved, the officials said while refusing to divulge further details.

It may be recalled here that the Odisha Police had nabbed the five Intermediate Test Range employees on September 13 and 16 for allegedly passing on vital information from the establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to a spy ring in lieu of money.