Udupi (Karnataka), Dec 22 (AHN) Karnataka Police have made a third arrest in connection with a case involving the passing of sensitive Indian Navy information to Pakistan.

Sleuths attached to the Malpe police station in Udupi district carried out the operation and arrested the accused, who has been identified as 34-year-old Hitendra, a resident of Kailashnagari in Gujarat.

Police investigations have revealed that Hitendra had allegedly provided SIM cards to the other two accused in the case in exchange for money. The two accused arrested earlier have been remanded to judicial custody. Police are questioning Hitendra in view of the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter.

Officials stated that more persons are likely to be involved and that the investigation is being pursued from all angles.

It may be recalled that on November 21, Karnataka Police arrested two persons for allegedly passing sensitive Indian Navy intelligence to Pakistan through WhatsApp and Facebook in exchange for money.

The accused were employed at the Cochin Shipyard and were arrested by the Udupi Police. The case was registered based on a complaint filed by the CEO of Cochin Shipyard at the Malpe police station. The accused have been booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act.

The two accused were identified as 20-year-old Rohit and 37-year-old Santri, both residents of Sultanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.

“The investigation was conducted by Assistant Police Commissioner Harsha Priyamvada and Malpe Station Sub-Inspector D. Anil Kumar. Acting on a tip-off, a special police team traced both accused staying together in a room in Malpe and arrested them. The case is significant from a national security perspective, and the probe has been intensified to determine whether others are involved,” Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar had said.

According to preliminary investigations, Rohit is the prime accused. He had been working as an insulator at the Cochin Shipyard unit in Malpe for the past six months.

Police said Rohit obtained a confidential list of Indian Navy ships, their identification numbers, and other classified details from Santri, who was employed at the Cochin Shipyard.

The investigation has revealed that the sensitive information was shared with Pakistan and possibly other countries, and the probe into this angle is ongoing, the SP added.

SP Hariram Shankar further stated that the accused received large sums of money in exchange for the information. It is suspected that they had been passing information related to ports under the central government, ships, and shipyard operations in Cochin, Kerala, and its Malpe branch in Karnataka for over one and a half years.

The investigation has also revealed that Rohit earned substantial amounts by selling information such as ship lists, identification numbers, and other details while working at the Cochin Shipyard in Kerala.

Indian Navy vessels are built at the shipyard’s Kerala facility, while the Malpe unit in Karnataka manufactures ships for private parties and international clients.

Rohit was transferred to Malpe six months ago. However, even after his transfer, he allegedly continued to obtain information from his associate Santri and passed it on through WhatsApp and Facebook.

SP Hariram Shankar said the accused had jeopardised the nation’s integrity and sovereignty and posed a serious threat to internal security.