5 arrested at Gujarat in connection with the 2019 navy espionage case

On Monday night, 4 men and 1 woman have been arrested at Godhra in Gujarat, in connection with an Indian Navy espionage case from 2019. Back then, 7 naval officers, including 3 from Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, had been arrested for disclosing sensitive information to ISI agents. 

A team of Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence Cell arrived in Godhra on Monday and conducted a joint operation with Gujarat Police to nab these 5 suspects. The suspects are currently questioned about their identities and their connection with the espionage case. 

Code-named ‘Operation Dolphin’s Nose’ by AP Police, this operation in December 2019 busted a major espionage racket in the Indian Navy where 7 officers from various naval commands had been leaking sensitive information to ISI agents, like the location of navy ships and submarines. After a few days, around 4 more officers were arrested in the same case. The accused used to send this info to the ISI agents via Facebook and Whatsapp. 

In 2020, National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over this navy espionage case and captured a merchant in Godhra who was in cahoots with ISI and had transferred money to the accounts of the suspects. 

While there haven’t been any other significant leads in this navy espionage case since, the arrest of these 5 individuals paves the way for discovering the true masterminds behind this, which threatens our national security at its core. This case had caused quite the clamour in 2019 in Visakhapatnam from where a majority of the suspects had been arrested.