The Andhra Pradesh police on Friday claimed to have busted an espionage racket with links to Pakistan and arrested seven personnel of the Indian Navy in this regard.
A release from police said the intelligence wing in a joint operation with Central intelligence agencies and Naval intelligence launched Operation Dolphin's Nose and unearthed the espionage racket.
"An FIR has been lodged and seven Navy personnel and a hawala operator have been arrested from different parts of the country. Some more suspects are being questioned," the police release said.
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Investigation is on, it added, without further details. Police sources said those arrested were being produced in court on Friday.
The police arrested three sailors from Visakhapatnam, two from Karwar naval base, and two from Mumbai naval base, according to The Indian Express. The article also said that the sailors were honey-trapped in September 2018.
The women lured the sailors through Facebook, and later introduced them to a man who posed as a businessman but was actually a Pakistani handler, the article said. He managed to elicit information from the sailors about the position and movement of the Indian warships and submarines, by blackmailing them using their chats with the women.
The sailors were also paid money every month through a hawala operator, The Indian Express report quoted a police officer as saying.
(With PTI inputs)
