AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested a 28-year-old health worker from the sensitive border district of Kutch, exposing an alleged espionage network run by Pakistani intelligence operatives.
This marks the third high-stakes spy arrest in Gujarat in just eight months — a pattern that has alarmed national security agencies.
The accused, Sahdevsinh Deepubha Gohil, a multipurpose health worker posted at the Mata-na-Madh Primary Health Centre, was taken into custody after investigators discovered he had allegedly passed classified photographs and videos of Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian Navy installations to a handler identified only as “Aditi Bharadwaj” — an alias used by a Pakistani intelligence agent.
According to ATS press release, Gohil came into contact with “Aditi Bharadwaj” via WhatsApp around June or July 2023, after which he was systematically groomed into leaking sensitive content — including images of under-construction and recently completed military facilities in the Kutch region.
“In January 2025, Gohil reportedly procured a new SIM card using his Aadhaar ID, activated WhatsApp, and handed over the device to the handler, continuing to transmit sensitive data. Investigators allege he was paid Rs 40,000 in cash through an intermediary for his services to the foreign agency,” said the release.
According to ATS officials, the arrest followed a coordinated surveillance operation combining technical intelligence and human sources, with corroboration from central intelligence agencies. Gohil was detained on May 1 and formally arrested after evidence surfaced of sustained communication and data transmission.
ATS revealed that both Gohil and his handler have been booked under Sections 61 and 148 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators are now racing against time to recover deleted data from Gohil’s mobile phone, which has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.
The Kutch arrest is the third in Gujarat's growing espionage chain. On November 29, 2024, ATS nabbed Dipesh Batuk Gohel from Devbhoomi Dwarka for leaking Indian Coast Guard intel to a Facebook contact “Sahima,” posing as a Pakistani naval officer, in exchange for Rs 42,000. Earlier, on October 26, Pankaj Kotiya was arrested in Porbandar for passing ship movement data to a Pakistan-based handler “Riya,” allegedly receiving Rs 26,000.
The three arrests sketch a disturbing pattern of digital honeytraps, cross-border cash deals, and insider betrayal — all centered in coastal Gujarat, a strategic defence zone. With each new case, the urgency to tighten cybersecurity and counter-intelligence measures has grown sharper.
