India expels Moscow envoy

Press, 7 February 1985, Page 10

India expels Moscow envoy

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi

India has expelled a Soviet diplomat on charges of being embroiled in the spy scandal that has surfaced recently, the “Indian Express” newspaper reports. The “Express,” India’s biggest-selling newspaper, which first linked France to the affair last month, said that the Soviet diplomat, as well as one diplomat each from the Polish and East German embassies, had left India at the week-end. There was no immediate comment from the Soviet Embassy or the Indian External Affairs Ministry about the report. The “Express” quoted intelligence sources as saying, “All these men from the embassies of countries of the Eastern bloc left India over the week-end.”-

It said that investigations had revealed that a second Soviet diplomat might also be in the spy ring.

The Soviet Union is India’s main arms supplier and the countries are linked by a long-standing friendship treaty — one of the main planks of India’s non-

aligned foreign policy. The “Express” said that the East Europeans were linked to the spy ring by a businessman from India’s troubled state of Punjab. The businessman, who had extensive dealings with East Europe, has been arrested in the round-up of suspects. Since the scandal broke three weeks ago France has recalled its deputy military attache and announced the withdrawal of its ambassador.

The police also have arrested 16 Indians, including employees of the Prime Minister’s Office and staff of the President, Mr Giani Zail Singh.

The latest arrest was made on Tuesday night when the police raided the home and office (of a Bombay businessman who headed a firm . £ that employed a man named'by newspapers as the leader of the ring. Reports linking East Bloc nations to the affair have cast a pall over the arrival at New Delhi on Monday on a four-day visit of the Polish Prime Minister, General Wojciech Jaruzelski.