KARWAR : Three men, who were taken into custody by NIA sleuths on Wednesday for allegedly sending pictures and vital information on the INS Kadamba naval base to enemy countries, were honey trapped by a Pakistani woman agent. Investigations revealed that the Pakistani agent, who introduced herself as a marine officer, obtained vital information and pictures of the naval base from the trio.
She became close to the trio after sending them friend requests on Facebook in 2023. The accused are Vethan Tandel from Mudga, Sunil of Thodur and Akshay Naik from Halavalli. Sunil quit his job at the naval base three years ago and joined a restaurant in Goa. Vethan got information from his friends and relatives who work in the naval base.
According to NIA sleuths, the Pakistani agent gathered information on the arrival of warships, their departure and other security details and paid each of them Rs 5,000 every month. Vethan Thandel and Akshay Naik received money every month for eight months. Sunil, who received money from her for four months, later blocked her on Facebook.
Mobile phones, electronic devices seized from trio
NIA sleuths from Hyderabad nabbed one Deepak and a few others in 2023 at Vishakapatnam in a similar case. During interrogation, they revealed their Karwar network. Vethan, Sunil and Akshay got money transferred to their bank accounts from the same account Deepak and his team used to get.
After the arrest of Deepak and his team, Vethan and Akshay stopped getting money. Based on this evidence, NIA sleuths from Bengaluru and Hyderabad arrived in Karwar on August 27 and took the trio into custody on August 28.
The sleuths have seized mobile phones and some electronic devices from the trio. Notices have been issued to them. Vethan has been directed to go to Hyderabad for further investigation. Akshay has been asked to appear before a team of NIA officers next week.