The police in Karnataka have arrested a man hailing from Gujarat and two others from Uttar Pradesh on charges of sharing sensitive information related to the Indian Navy’s ships with their handlers in Pakistan.
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The Malpe police in Udupi district said on Sunday that the Gujarat man, identified as Hirendra Kumar, 34, a resident of Kailas Nagari in Anand taluka, was arrested on December 20, while the two others—Rohit, 29, and Santri, 37, both from UP’s Sultanpur district—were arrested in November.
Rohit and Santri worked as insulators at Shusshma Marine Private Limited, which is a subcontractor of the Udupi Cochin Shipyard. Rohit allegedly collected confidential information about naval ships and sent it to Pakistan via messages. He continued to do it with the help of Santri even after he was transferred from the place, according to the police. Hirendra Kumar had obtained a SIM card in his name and handed it to Rohit in exchange for money, the police added.
The case was registered after the CEO of the Cochin Shipyard filed a complaint at the Malpe police station in November. It was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) and Official Secrets Act sections 3 (spying) and 5 (wrongful communication, etc., of information).