A 31-year-old officer working at Mazagaon dockyard in Mumbai has been arrested on charges of espionage after the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) found that he had allegedly leaked sensitive information to a Pakistan-based intelligence operative.
The accused, working as a structural fabricator at the dockyard, was honeytrapped and then blackmailed into disclosing sensitive information, officers have said. A Pakistani woman agent, it is learnt, befriended him on social media and they were in touch for months. Officers said he also got money in exchange for the information.
The ATS has said in a statement that they had received information that an Indian suspect had provided sensitive information to a Pakistan-based intelligence operative.
"Accused was interrogated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad. During the investigation, it was found that the suspect was introduced to a Pakistan based intelligence operative (PIO) through Facebook and WhatsApp between November 2021 and May 2023. The suspect chatted with PIO on Facebook, WhatsApp account and was arrested by Indian government," the statement said.
The case has been registered against two people - the dockyard staff and the Pakistani operative he allegedly supplied information to.
The dockyard officer has been arrested under the Official Secrets Act and is now being questioned by the ATS. Officers have not revealed details of what kind of information was allegedly passed to the Pakistani agent and said a probe is on.
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