Indian Navy on alert after Pakistani spies attempt fish for info on aircraft carriers, warships

KARWAR: Even as India chokes Pakistan with various measures including suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, revoking visas and banning import and transit of goods, suspening exchange of all categories of all inbound mails and parcels from Pakistan through air and surface routes, spies are reportedly trying to fish out information about naval assets and bases.

Pakistani espionage agents, taking the names of Indian Navy officers, have reportedly been calling naval official at the Kadamba naval base and at Visakhapatnam to ferret information about aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, INS Vikramaditya and other naval warships.

The Pakistani spies reportedly contacted Indian Navy officials in Karwar and Visakhapatnam to seek information about the aircraft carriers and other warships including INS Subhadra. Pakistani agents have also reportedly been trying to honeytrap Indian Navy personnel.

Following these developments, the Indian Navy has directed its officers and personnel not to share any sensitive information. The development comes close on the heels of the arrest of three people by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who had shared pictures of the Kadamba naval base and INS Vikramaditya in February this year.

A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Hyderabad had arrested Vetan Tandel of Muduga village and Akshay Ravi Nayak of Halavalli and Sunil Nayak of Toduru village. Vetan Tandel and Akshay Nayak were contract employees with Mercury Marine and Ultra Marine companies at Chendia in Karwar while Sunil was a canteen contractor at the Seabird naval project site who later became a driver.

In 2024, a Pakistani woman, claiming to be a naval officer, had contacted the accused on Facebook and was getting information from them about the movement of Indian Navy warships, drawings and photos of the naval base. They were paid Rs 5,000 per months from the bank account of one Deepak.