India, Jan. 29 -- A special NIA court has sentenced a key accused in a Pakistan-led espionage conspiracy case involving fraudulent use of SIM cards and misuse of social media platforms to more than five years in jail, officials said on Wednesday. The accused, Altafhusen Ghanchibhai alias Shakil, had pleaded guilty during the trial, in which 37 witnesses had been examined by the prosecution, they said.

After convicting the accused for misusing unique identification features, including SIM cards, one-time passwords (OTPs), as well as social media, the special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, pronounced the sentence on Tuesday.

Accordingly, Ghanchibhai has been sentenced to simple imprisonm...