The United States has detained a well-known Indian-origin scholar on charges of unlawfully retaining national defence information. According to the affidavit filed by US authorities, more than 1,000 pages of classified documents were found at Tellis's home in Virginia after investigations. A federal court in Virginia ordered the arrest of Tellis, who has worked as a contractor in the department of defence's office of net assessment, on Tuesday pending a detention hearing next week. According to US media news reports, if convicted, Tellis can face potential penalties of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture. According to the criminal affidavit, FBI conducted a search at Tellis's Virginia home and found a trove of records, marked "SECRET" and "TOP SECRET".

See Full Page