Pakistan spy ring busted, 7 Indian Navy men held for exposing secrets

Seven Indian Navy officials were arrested from Mumbai, Karwar and Visakhapatnam on Friday for leaking sensitive information about the movements of warships and submarines to Pakistani agents. Security agencies busted the Pakistani spy ring and nabbed three sailors from Visakhapatnam, two from Karwar and two from Mumbai. This incident has exposed lapses in the security apparatus placed around critical military assets in India.

According to intelligence agencies, both the Eastern and Western naval command centres, responsible for the security of maritime borders, were exposed to the Pakistani agents. A hawala operator is also reported as being arrested. "Some more suspects are being questioned," the agencies said.

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Key military assets

The agencies pointed out that Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the headquarters of the Navy's Eastern Command and also the base of nuclear submarine Arihant, was exposed to the espionage racket. This Command is tasked with securing India's vast Bay of Bengal coast and keeps an eye on maritime activities from the strategic Strait of Malacca near Singapore to the Tamil Nadu coast. It also tracks suspicious Chinese ship movements in waters of Bay of Bengal. The Western naval command in Mumbai was also exposed along with Karnataka's Karwar, the naval centre which has the force's lone aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. Indian Navy, however, maintained that their critical assets were intact and that there was no breach.

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Operation Dolphin's Nose

About the arrests, the force said, "In a joint operation with naval intelligence and Central intelligence agencies, the Andhra Pradesh Police arrested some junior naval personnel. The case is under investigation by Andhra Pradesh Police." Under operation 'Dolphin's Nose', the AP police collaborated with other agencies to bust the racket.

The accused were produced before the National Investigation Agency court in Vijayawada on Friday. They were remanded to judicial custody till January 3. The police said that all the arrested officials were in touch with Pakistani women who had befriended them on Facebook.

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Honey trap tactic by Pak agents

It is alleged that officials were paid through a hawala operator for providing information. The chats between these sailors who were being used by Pakistani agents were sexually explicit. Sources said the honey trap with women posing as their friends on Facebook was set up by Pakistani intelligence operatives. The sailors were later blackmailed and forced to provide information. "We are probing the matter and more people could be arrested," the probe agencies said.

(With Agency inputs)

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