Engineer Arrested For Spying Shared Details On Warships, Submarines With Pak

A 27-year-old mechanical engineer named Ravindra Verma, residing in Kalwa, Thane, has been arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on charges of espionage for allegedly leaking sensitive information about Indian naval warships and submarines to a Pakistani intelligence operative.
Verma, who worked as a junior engineer with a private defence technology firm, was granted access to the Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai as part of his job.
This role enabled him to board naval ships and submarines, where he gathered classified technical details and operational information.
Investigations reveal that Verma was honey-trapped by Pakistani intelligence operatives posing as women on Facebook under the names Payal Sharma and Ispreet. These operatives initiated contact in November 2024 by expressing interest in warships and submarines under the pretext of a project, gradually manipulating him into a romantic relationship to extract sensitive information. Verma was fully aware that he was sharing classified data and did so intentionally, receiving monetary compensation through various bank accounts—both in India and abroad—in exchange for the information.
Due to strict security protocols prohibiting mobile phones inside the Naval Dockyard, Verma would memorize technical details, defect lists, and operational statuses of the vessels he worked on. After his shifts, he would transmit this information to the operatives using sketches, diagrams, and audio notes via WhatsApp. It is suspected that Verma also disclosed the names of specific warships and submarines, further compromising national security.
The ATS investigation, which began following intelligence inputs, uncovered that Verma had been periodically supplying confidential data from November 2024 to March 2025. The operatives, posing as women, cultivated an online relationship, persuading Verma to share intricate details about naval assets and their maintenance statuses.
Verma was arrested and produced before a court, which remanded him to ATS custody until June 2. The case has been registered under relevant sections of the Official Secrets Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for unlawful communication of sensitive government information and endangering national security.
The arrest highlights ongoing concerns about espionage targeting defence personnel through social media honey traps, emphasizing the need for heightened vigilance and cybersecurity awareness among those with access to sensitive installations. The ATS continues to investigate, with two Pakistani intelligence operatives and another Indian individual wanted in connection with the case.
Based On A PTI Report