The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Visakhapatnam-based espionage racket, filed a supplementary charge sheet against garments trader, Yakub Imran Giteli alias Giteli Imran, in the NIA Special Court in Vijayawada on Friday.
A native of Godhra, Panchmahal, in Gujarat, Yakub Imran was reportedly in contact with Pakistani ISI agents and mediated with the Navy personnel, who were allegedly involved in the case, according to the charge sheet filed by the agency.
It was alleged that the accused used to frequently visit Pakistan on the pretext of cloth business. He allegedly transferred money into the accounts of the Navy personnel for leaking highly sensitive and strategic information.
In November, 2019, the Counter Intelligence Police of Intelligence Department busted the Visakhapatnam-based espionage racket, in which a few young sailors of Indian Navy were allegedly involved.
With the espionage case having links to Mumbai naval base, Karwar naval base and the Visakhapatnam navy, the NIA took over the case. The agency filed a charge sheet against 14 persons, including a few sailors and civilians.
During investigating, it was revealed that Yakub Imran, an active ISI operative, was in contact with Pakistani agents and raised funds for terrorist groups and their activities.
Dolphin’s Nose
The operation ‘Dolphin’s Nose’, carried out by Counter Intelligence Department, Vijayawada; Navy Intelligence Department and the Central Intelligence Agencies, tracked the movements of seven sailors of the Navy for many days and they were arrested in 2019.
Seven sailors, three civilians and few others were arrested in the case. A few women allegedly lured the sailors on social media groups and introduced them online to a self-claimed businessman, who was a Pakistani handler.
Honey trap
The sailors, all recruited in 2017, were honey-trapped in September 2018. They allegedly used to reveal the locations they moved, vital submarines, names of the top-level officers and other sensitive information. They were paid through a hawala operator, a high-level source said.
Police earlier arrested one Jabbar in the case, along with the sailors and investigation is under progress.
