A Navy staffer, posted in the Naval headquarters, has been arrested in Jaipur for allegedly spying for Pakistan.
The accused, identified as Vishal Yadav, was posted as an Upper Division Clerk (UDC) in the Directorate of Dockyard at the Navy building.
According to the authorities, Yadav allegedly also shared details on Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack last month.
How was the naval staffer lured to spy for Pakistan?
According to a PTI report, Inspector General of Police (CID-Security) Vishnu Kant Gupta said Vishal Yadav leaked the classified information to a female Pakistani handler posing as an Indian woman.
According to the report, the Pakistani handler first approached Yadav on Facebook. She sent him a friend request under the fake identity "Priya Sharma," and then the communication started.
The two started communicating regularly on various social media platforms, from Facebook to WhatsApp. They later communicated through Telegram, a platform known for its encryption-enabled messages.
Police said Yadav initially received small payments of ₹5,000- ₹6,000 for lower-grade information. However, the handler allegedly encouraged him to provide more valuable intelligence for higher compensation. That's when Yadav began sharing critical defence-related data.
{{/usCountry}}Police said Yadav initially received small payments of ₹5,000- ₹6,000 for lower-grade information. However, the handler allegedly encouraged him to provide more valuable intelligence for higher compensation. That's when Yadav began sharing critical defence-related data.
{{/usCountry}}"He was lured by money and ended up leaking sensitive information from the Navy headquarters," the IG was quoted by PTI as saying.
The accused is believed to have received around ₹2 lakhs for his spying.
The authorities believe that the accused was addicted to online gaming, and that may have been what made him vulnerable to the trap of the Pakistani spy network.
Various arrests after Operation Sindoor
The authorities had busted a large spy network working for Pakistan after last month's Operation Sindoor. Several people from Punjab, Haryana and other places were arrested in connection with espionage, including influencers like Jyoti Malhotra.
India had also declared some of the staff at the Pakistani High Commission in Delhi as persona non grata due to their connection to this network.