JAIPUR: A staff member of the Indian Navy posted in New Delhi has been taken into custody for allegedly passing sensitive military information to Pakistan’s ISI, authorities said. The suspect is accused of leaking critical defence data, including details related to Operation Sindoor, which concluded recently.
The accused, identified as Vishal Yadav, a clerk at Naval Headquarters and a native of Haryana, was apprehended by the Rajasthan Police Intelligence Unit after months of surveillance, media reports stated.
“Rajasthan Police’s CID Intelligence team had been closely monitoring Pakistani espionage activities when Yadav came under suspicion. He was found to be in regular contact with a woman identifying herself as ‘Priya Sharma,’ allegedly an ISI operative. The suspect used social media platforms to communicate and share classified information,” said senior police official Vishnukant Gupta.
According to authorities, Yadav allegedly passed naval data and details about defence installations to the woman in exchange for financial payments. A forensic examination of his phone revealed long-standing communication and data transfers, including during the military operation launched after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Initial inquiries suggest that Yadav was grappling with significant financial losses due to online gaming and became vulnerable to exploitation. “He received payments both through cryptocurrency wallets and direct bank transfers,” Gupta added.
Yadav is currently being interrogated by multiple intelligence agencies at the Central Interrogation Centre in Jaipur, as efforts intensify to assess the damage caused by the leak and to identify any additional individuals linked to the espionage network.
The arrest is part of a larger campaign against Pakistani espionage across the country, which has intensified since the terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed over 26 civilian lives. Earlier, Rajasthan authorities had detained a state government employee, Shakur Khan, in Jaisalmer for allegedly spying for Pakistani interests.
Separately, a Haryana-based YouTuber and vlogger, Jyoti Malhotra, was taken into custody for espionage after investigators revealed her links to a Pakistani official posted at the High Commission in New Delhi. These arrests occurred in the wake of Operation Sindoor, a four-day military offensive conducted by India from 7 to 10 May.
