VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Department police arrested 31-year-old Indian Navy sailor Pradeep Mukherjee of West Bengal while he was attending a management development course at INS Agrani, a premier naval leadership training establishment at Red Fields in Coimbatore.
Speaking to TNIE, Intelligence officials confirmed that he has been arrested by the Counter Intelligence (CI) cell sleuths for allegedly leaking classified maritime intelligence to a Pakistani intelligence operative through a social media-based “honey-trap” operation.
According to officials, Mukherjee is a native of West Bengal and joined the Navy in 2014 and was posted with the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
He was attending a management development course at the Coimbatore facility and had been there for about a week when he was arrested.
The officials said a female Pakistani intelligence operative had contacted Mukherjee on social media several months ago and gradually developed an online relationship with him. The operative allegedly used the relationship to obtain sensitive information about strategic naval assets.
The CI cell, which probes cross-border espionage and terror threats, launched an investigation after detecting suspicious digital activity linked to Mukherjee. He was subsequently placed under surveillance before his arrest. “He is being brought to Vijayawada and will be produced in court,” said the official, adding that a probe is underway.
