The Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested two people, including a Navy employee, in an alleged Pakistan-linked espionage case. Investigators say 18 people are under scrutiny, and 13 of them are naval personnel. Officials described the case as an espionage conspiracy prejudicial to national security. All of this is at the investigation stage, and no one has been convicted.
The two arrested are Pradeep Mukherjee, a Navy employee from the Visakhapatnam naval base, and Annam Sai Varaprasad, a civilian contract driver who worked for naval officers in Visakhapatnam. Reports describe Mukherjee as 31 years old and posted under the Eastern Naval Command. Police said he was arrested on October 3 from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, where he was attending a management development course at INS Agrani. Both have been sent to judicial custody, and Mukherjee was produced before a court in Vijayawada.
“Operation Firewall-2026”
The Andhra Pradesh Counter Intelligence Cell said it received credible information about individuals allegedly in direct contact with Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIOs). The investigation, under Operation Firewall-2026, involved coordination with police and intelligence authorities across 10 states. Police allege the suspects shared sensitive and classified information on defence establishments and strategic locations.
The alleged honey trap
According to investigators, Mukherjee allegedly came into contact through social media with a woman suspected of being a Pakistani intelligence operative. This pattern, in which operatives build contact through social media and then extract information, has featured in previous Indian espionage cases. The detailed allegations against the other 16 suspects have not been made public, and the role of the remaining suspects is still under investigation.
The case carries weight because of where the suspects are posted. Visakhapatnam hosts the Eastern Naval Command, one of the Navy’s key operational bases. Even so, the Navy has not publicly detailed what, if anything, was compromised. In an earlier Visakhapatnam case in 2019, Navy officials said the arrested personnel were junior and unlikely to have had access to sensitive operational information. It is too early to say whether that is true here.
Not the first case
- 2019–2021: Andhra Pradesh Police busted a racket under “Operation Dolphin’s Nose,” arresting seven Navy personnel and a hawala operator. The NIA later took up the case. It found that Pakistan-based operatives recruited agents to gather information on Navy ships, submarines and other defence establishments, and paid navy personnel through Indian intermediaries. Fourteen accused had been arrested, including 11 Navy personnel.
- 2023: The NIA arrested three men for allegedly passing information on the Karwar and Kochi naval bases to PIOs in exchange for money, in a case that originated with the same Andhra Pradesh Counter Intelligence Cell.
- March 2026: The Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested a Navy personnel posted with the Southern Naval Command in Kochi for allegedly spying for Pakistan’s ISI.