Navy sailor Pradeep Mukherjee arrested for leaking defence secrets to Pakistani agent

An Indian Navy sailor has been arrested for allegedly passing classified maritime intelligence to a Pakistani operative after being lured into an online honeytrap.

Pradeep Mukherjee, 31, was detained by the Andhra Pradesh Police Counter Intelligence cell at INS Agrani, a naval leadership training facility in Coimbatore. Mukherjee, who is originally from West Bengal, has been serving in the Navy since 2014 and is permanently posted with the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam. At the time of his arrest, he had been at the Coimbatore facility for about a week attending a management development course.

How the honeytrap unfolded

According to official sources, a female Pakistani intelligence operative contacted Mukherjee on social media several months ago. The operative befriended the sailor online, gradually leveraging the relationship to extract highly sensitive details. Over the course of their conversations, the handler allegedly managed to persuade Mukherjee to hand over critical operational intelligence.

Investigators said the compromised information included highly sensitive data regarding strategic naval assets, fleet movements, and the overall operational setup of the Visakhapatnam naval base. The base is the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command and is a vital hub for India's maritime operations in the Bay of Bengal.

Surveillance and detention

The Andhra Pradesh Counter Intelligence cell, an elite unit tasked with tackling cross-border espionage, terror modules, and high-security threats, began tracking Mukherjee after detecting suspicious digital footprints. Security analysts placed the sailor under surveillance to monitor his online activities and document the security breach.

Once investigators confirmed that classified information was being transmitted to a foreign agent, they secured the necessary clearance from naval authorities to proceed with an arrest. A specialised Counter Intelligence team arrived at INS Agrani on Saturday morning and took Mukherjee into custody. Local police officials in Coimbatore were also formally notified of the action.

What happens next

Following his arrest, Mukherjee was produced before a local magistrate to secure a transit warrant, allowing investigators to transport him out of Tamil Nadu. He was taken to the Counter Intelligence headquarters in Vijayawada on Saturday evening for extensive custodial interrogation.

The primary focus of the ongoing investigation is to determine the exact nature and volume of the defence files that were compromised during the exchange. Additionally, investigators are probing whether Mukherjee received any financial compensation for the leaked data. They are currently auditing his financial records, looking for suspicious transactions that may have been routed through digital payment platforms or informal hawala networks.