Hours after running a story confirming Kulbhushan Jadhav being recruited as a spy by Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), The Quint retracted the article, saying it was "rechecking some of the information mentioned".

The article, written by journalist and opinion editor at The Quint Chandan Nandy, said: "[...] it has come to light that two former chiefs of RAW, who headed the organisation sometime over the past 15 years, had put their foot down against recruiting him for operations in Pakistan".

According to the article, Jadhav was employed as part of "renewed efforts to use human sources as deep penetration agents in Pakistan".

The senior RAW officials were quoted as saying that Jadhav was “not a high-grade operative" and did not possess the required skills for collecting intelligence.

Read: Who is Kulbhushan Jadhav?

Nandy, on his Twitter page, had shared the story on Friday with the caption, "Calling a spade a spade!".

Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal, on Saturday, shared an "update as reported" on Twitter, saying that Nandy had gone missing/into hiding.

Certain Indian websites have called out The Quint for what they call "shoddy journalism", "selling their country to an enemy nation", and for being "on the wrong side".

Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, was arrested in Pakistan on espionage charges.

He was captured by security forces on March 3, 2016, in Balochistan and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in 2017 for his involvement in terrorism and espionage.

His appeals against the conviction have been rejected by the military appellate court and his mercy petition has been lying with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

India has challenged Pakistan’s refusal to grant consular access to the spy in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ is hearing the case and has restrained the Pakistan government from executing Jadhav until it decides the case.