Pakistani intelligence operatives, masquerading as women on social media, trapped several Indians including an arrested Indian navy sailor to extract sensitive information about defence bases and strategic locations in Visakhapatnam , police said on Tuesday.
The teams worked in coordination with the several state anti-terrorism squads , naval officials and local police. Varaprasad, who was arrested in Visakhapatnam is charged with sharing sensitive and classified information relating to Naval and defence establishments with a Pakistan-based intelligence operative. Following his arrest in Coimbatore, the AP CIC team obtained a transit warrant. He is lodged in the district jail, Vijayawada.
The case was registered at the CIC police station in Vijayawada on September 2 and the suspects have been booked under various sections including the Official Secrets Act, Waging a War against India and Conspiring to Commit offences against the State under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). During the operation, investigators examined the alleged involvement of all 18 suspects and seized electronic gadgets from them after due legal procedures. He was subsequently brought to Vijayawada and produced before the jurisdictional court, which sent him to judicial custody until October 14.
Two people — Pradeep Mukherjee, an Indian navy sailor, attached to the Visakhapatnam naval base, and Annam Sai Varaprasad, a contractual driver for the navy — were arrested over the weekend in an interstate operation, the Andhra Pradesh police’s counter intelligence cell (CIC) said. The two suspects allegedly collected and shared sensitive and classified information relating to defence establishments and strategic locations in Visakhapatnam and other parts of the country through encrypted communication channels, the state police’s counter intelligence cell (CIC) said in a statement. “The information was allegedly shared with Pakistan-based intelligence operatives as part of a suspected espionage conspiracy prejudicial to India’s national security,” the statement said. The police said based on prima facie evidence of involvement, Varaprasad and Mukherjee were arrested while the investigation into the remaining suspects was still underway.
