NIA arrests man for bribing Navy staff

NEWDELHI: A 49-year-old resident of Mumbai, suspected to have links with spies in Pakistan, has been arrested for allegedly bribing navy personnel in exchange for classified information, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Friday.

Mohammed Haroon Lakdawala used to travel to Karachi on the pretext of cloth trade, according to an NIA statement. During one such visit, he came in contact with two spies, Akbar and Rizwan, who asked him to make deposits into the bank accounts of 11 navy personnel, the statement said. The spy ring was busted in December 2019 by the Andhra Pradesh police in collaboration with central agencies like Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing. NIA took over the probe in late December.

Security agencies dubbed it “Operation Dolphin Nose”, a reference to the hill next to the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, where naval offices and a residential complex are located. In all, 14 people including 11 navy personnel and a Pakistani-born Indian national, Shaista Qaiser, have been arrested in the case.

According to NIA, Pakistanbased spies recruited agents in India to collect classified information on the movement of naval ships, submarines and location of defence establishments. The navy personnel came in contact with Pakistani nationals through social media platforms. The payments were made via Lakdawala.

Investigators earlier told HT that the navy personnel, mostly sailors, did not reveal any significant information and were paid between ~5,000 and ~10,000.

“Lakdawala was chosen to make payments to the sailors. For this, he received money from Pakistan. We are investigating if he was using hawala channels to receive funds and the number of visits he made to Karachi over the years,” said an NIA officer who didn’t wish to be named.

NIA has found that the sailors who have been paid by Lakdawala didn’t have access to any sensitive or classified information, the officer added.

After the spy ring was busted, the navy asked all its ranks on board warships, dockyards and naval bases to keep themselves away from social media and smartphones.