Maharashtra’s elite Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a Thane-based junior engineer on charges of spying, alleging that he provided sensitive defence information to a Pakistani intelligence operative who honey-trapped him online, officials said on Thursday.
Image used only for representational purposes. Photograph: Anna Sulencka/Pixabay
This comes at a time when several spy rackets have been busted in northern states post ‘Operation Sindoor’.
Accused Ravindra Murlidhar Verma, a 27-year-old, was placed under arrest on Wednesday following a tip-off from security agencies, the officials said.
Verma was working as a junior engineer with a defence technology firm and by virtue of his work, he had access to the highly-sensitive Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai, where he frequently worked on naval ships.
According to the officials, Verma was lured into passing classified information after being honey-trapped by a Pakistani agent posing as a woman on Facebook.
They said that the accused communicated sensitive details about a vital installation to the ‘Pakistani Intelligence Operative’ (PIO) via WhatsApp between November 2024 and March 2025.
A case has been registered against Verma and two other individuals who were in contact with him, under section 3 of the Official Secrets Act (dealing with espionage) and section 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Following extensive interrogation, Verma was formally arrested for his alleged involvement in the crime and produced before a court, which remanded him to ATS custody till Monday.
The ATS is currently scrutinising Verma’s mobile phones and other electronic gadgets to uncover the full extent of information shared through social media platforms with the PIO.
Post Operation Sindoor, in which the Indian Air Force made a precise bombing of nine terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, the security agencies have busted several spy rings in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
