An unnamed British Parliament researcher who reportedly had links to security minister Tom Tugendhat and foreign affairs committee chairwoman Alicia Kearns has been arrested under the Official Secrets Act, amid claims he was spying for China.
Police have confirmed two men, one in his 20s and another in his 30s, were arrested under the law in March, the BBC reports.
Sources have apparently said one of them was a parliamentary researcher involved in international affairs issues.
The arrests were first reported in the Sunday Times.
The Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which oversees espionage-related offences, is investigating.
The Met said: ‘A man in his 30s was arrested at an address in Oxfordshire and a man in his 20s was arrested at an address in Edinburgh.
‘Searches were also carried out at both the residential properties, as well as at a third address in east London.’
Both men were taken to a south London police station, and were subsequently released on police bail until a date in early October, it said.
The BBC reports that the parliamentary official has not been named, but that the Sunday Times reported that he had lived in China for a period.
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