CBI wants to probe Sri Lankan held for spying

CHENNAI: CBI has filed a petition in an NIA court here seeking its nod to interrogate a Sri Lankan national held for allegedly spying for Pakistan.

"The CBI has sought court permission to interrogate Arun Selvarajan. They want to see if the accused had links with the LTTE while he was in Lanka," Special Public Prosecutor for NIA, C S S Pillai told PTI.

Meanwhile, a petition filed by the NIA seeking seven days custody of Arun was taken up by Judge of the designated NIA court M Moni today and the accused was produced before him.

When the judge asked Arun about his view on the petition seeking custody, Arun said he was "ready to go to police custody".

The judge is expected to pronounce his order tomorrow, the SPP added.

Arun Selvarajan, by posing as an event management professional, allegedly accessed vital installations like the Coast Guard and the Officers Training Academy.

He had allegedly worked at the behest of handlers at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo.

Arun was arrested on September 10 and remanded to judicial custody the following day.

A laptop, hard discs, pen drives, micro-tape cassettes were among the seizures made by the NIA from his residence.

Also, the accused was found in possession of both Indian and Sri Lankan passports.