Maha ATS arrests Pakistani agents posed as ‘Payal Angel’, ‘Aarti Sharma’

Maharashtra ATS on Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old man named Gaurav Patil, who works at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai, He was arrested on the charges of sharing intelligence information with Pakistani-based Intelligence Operative (PIO) agents.

Sources in the Agency said, "Patil met two PIO agents through Facebook and WhatsApp from May 2023 to October 2023 and then he used to share information banned by the Indian government with both of them."

Sources have also claimed that the names of the two Pakistani agents with whom the accused was in contact are "Payal Angel" and "Aarti Sharma". The allegation is that Patil used to share intelligence information with Payal and Aarti.

Sources also said that Patil used to work as an apprentice at Mazagaon Dock and because of his stay there, he knew which Navy warship came and went when, he used to share all the information along with the name of the warship with Pakistani agents.

Apart from this, accused Patil also took money from a person named Mukta Mohito in exchange for all this information. ATS is currently looking for other accused.
A Senior Official from the Agency on the grounds of anonymity said "The accused had sent classified information to the PIO agents; he had received funds from the person named Mukta Mohito. We can't reveal details about the mode of fund transaction as the investigation is in its initial stage. We are verifying the facts and also carrying out a search for the person named Mukta Mohito."

In this regard, ATS has registered an FIR against Patil, Mohito, Payal and Aarti under section 120 (B) of IPC and section 3 (1) A, 5 (A) (B) (D), and 9 of Official Secrets Act.