Espionage racket busted in Andhra Pradesh

Amaravati: The state Intelligence department has busted an espionage racket involving seven navy personnel and a hawala operator with alleged links to Pakistan. The operation was conducted on Friday with the help of Central Intelligence agencies and Naval Intelligence. "The naval officials belonged to different parts of the country, working with different naval commands in crucial positions.

All are youngsters, honey-trapped by fake female users of Facebook, Twitter and other social media," said Intelligence sleuths. After trapping the officials, Pakistan reportedly used a Hawala operator to bribe them.

All this nexus was exposed in the 'Operation Dolphin's Nose' executed by the Intelligence agencies, including the NIA, Central Intelligence, Naval Intelligence and AP Counter-Intelligence. The Intelligence officials took the seven naval officials along with the Hawala operator into custody, said, AP DGP D Gautam Sawang. The accused will be produced in a court at Vijayawada.

Intelligence sleuths are suspecting involvement of some other officials in the espionage and investigation are investigating the case in this angle. It is said that an officer working in a warship and another working in a submarine from the Visakhapatnam Naval Base, two officials working at Karwar in Karnataka and three from the Mumbai Naval Base are among the arrested.